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THB STANDARD'S 

HISTORY 



OF 



BRIDGEPORT 



THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE CITV-ITS GROWTH FROM SMALL 

BEGINNINGS-TUE CONTRASTS OF THE PRESENT 

WITH Till: PAST 



THE PROMISE OF THE FUTURE 



WITH MANY ILLl'STRATIOXS MADE EXPRESSLY 
FOR THIS WORK 



PUBLISHED BY 
THE STA.T^D.A.RI) ASSOCIATION 

COMPILED BY 

OEORQK CURTIS WALDO 

1897 
Copyright 1897 by F. T. Smiley sc Co. 



t lo^ 



PREFACE. 

■npHE compiler of this liistoric paper lias been painfully aware of the limitations in time and space 
■^ under which he has labored, and as the work has unfolded itself before him the wish for months 
in place of weeks, and chapters where only pages were possible has been an ever present one. But if 
he has succeeded in putting into presentable shape the outlines of the history of Bridgeport, and of 
indicating where lies the most available material for the writer of the future history, and if he has 
given also some savor of the quality of that material, he has not entirely failed. Every one who does 
honest work on a local history, no matter how restricted his scope, helps a good cause, and makes 
easier the labor of those who follow him, and though this step may not be so long as some others have 
taken, it is hoped that it is, at least, in the right direction. The writer acknowledges his indebtedness 
to the historical notes of Major Wm. B. Hincks, to the papers of the late R. B. Lace}-, Esq., to 
Orcutt's History of Bridgeport and Stratford, and, more particularly, to the historic records of Mr. 
Franklin Sherwood. G. C. W., 1897. 



THE STANDARD ASSOCIATION, 
Britlgeport, Conn., 1897 



Illustrations by 

HOPKINS &. BLAVT. 

no Fifth Ave..N.Y. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I I 

The Indian Owners of the Soil and Their Dispossession by the Whites. — The Golden Hill Reservation. — 
The Stratfield Parish. — The Xew Society and the Meeting Houses. — The Growth Toward the Water.— New 
Field Ferry and Lottery Bridge. 

CHAPTER n 7 

An Episcopal Church Formed. — The Old St. John's, — The Revolution and the War of 1S12. — Scenes and 
Incidents in each. — The Visits of Washington to Nichols' Tavern.— The British Fleet Stirs up the People. 
— La Fayette's Visit to Bridgeport. 

CHAPTER III II 

The Borough of Bridgeport. —Mr. Backus Claims the Charter as his Work. — The Name Decided by the 
Bridge and Port. — Some of the Early Business Firms. — A Town in 1S21. — A City in 1S36. — The Growth of 
Population. 

CHAPTER IV 15 

Church and State.— The Progress of the Old First Church.— Its Removal from Stratfield to "The Port."— 
Its History that of the Town up to the Constitution of 1818.— What the Disestablishment Meant.— The Bi- 
centennial of the Church. — Interesting Ceremonies and Events. — The Second or South Church. 

CHAPTER V 18 

The Presbyterian Church.— Its Foundation and Progress. — The Methodist Church and its Establishment in 
Bridgeport. — Beginning and Growth of the Baptist Church. — The Churches of Bridgeport's Early History. 

CHAPTER VI 23 

The Churches of To-Day. — Christ Episcopal, Trinity and St. Paul's. — The Universalist Church. — The 
Congregational, Methodist, Baptist and Catholic Churches. — A View of All. 

CHAPTER VII 2y 

Fire Department, Fires, Etc. — The First Fire Engine Marks an Epoch. — Some Old Fires.— The Men of the 
Old Time Fire Companies. — The (ireat Fire of 1S45. — A Personal Narrative. — The Department of To-Day. 
— Notes on the Old Fire Houses, Hats and Some Other Things. 

CHAPTER VIII 36 

The Great Turnpike Interest. — How the Turnpikes Fed Bridgeport. — They Oppose the Railroad Projects. — 
The Housatonic R. R. Chartered and Built.— The City Credit Involved and the Trouble Over It. — The Debt 
Acknowledged and Provided for. — Queer Legal Performances. — The Naugatuck R. R. Built. 

CHAPTER IX . . 40 

The New York and New Haven Road. — R. B. Mason's Predictions. — What the Road is To-Day. — Street 
Railroads — The Eflfect of Railroads on Bridgeport's Growth. — Some of the Most Important of her Industries. 

CHAPTER X 45 

Board of Trade. Etc. — The Influence of the Board of Trade. — Its Good Work. — The Harbor and Harbor Im- 
provements. — Harbor Lights. — Breakwaters, Channels, Etc. — The Commerce of the Place. — The Oyster 
Industry. — Steamboats Old and New. 

CHAPTER XI 50 

The Street Lights of Bridgeport.— Old and New. — Some Contrasts. — The Water Supply of the City. — The 
Bridges that Have Been Built. 

CHAPTER XII 56 

The City Government. — Changes in the City Charter. — List of Mayors.— Present Make-Up of the City 
Government.--Boards and Commissions. — Representatives. — Senators. — County Officers. — City Court. — 
City Attorney. — Police Department. 

CHAPTER XIII 61 

The Bar of Bridgeport. — Legal Lights of the Past. — The Court House Comes to the City. — The Old and 
New Buildings. — The Medical Profession. — State and County Associations. — The Hospital. — Newspapers 
Past and Present. 

CHAPTER XIV 66 

The Parks of Bridgeport. — The Public Green.— Washington Park. — Seaside Park, its Inception, Develop- 
ment and Cost. — Beardsley Park a Splendid Gift. — Other Parks About the City. — Notes in Connection with 
the Parks. 



^,i THE "STANDARDS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

QpJ^pflVK XV '^ 

The Banks of Bridgeport.— Bridgeport's Sound Financial Institutions— Her Historic Banks and Her Well- 
Known Bankers.— Postmasters of the Past.— Custom House and Collectors.-The New Federal Building. 

CHAPTER XVI ;,, • '9 

The Public Schools of Bridgeport.— Before and After Consolidation.— Her Modern School Buildings.— 1 he 
Free Public Library.— The Gift of a Noble Woman.— Its History and Present Condition. 

CHAPTER XVII ^5 

Bridgeport During the War 1861-65.— Her Sentiments Solid and Her Soldiers Ready.— Her Early Enlist- 
ments.— Elias Howe, Jr., a Private in the Ranks.— The Ladies' Aid Societies Numerous and Effective.— 
The G. A. R. and Other Veteran Organizations.— The C. N. G.— Bridgeport's Share of the 4th Regiment. 

CHAPTER XVIII 90 

The Barnum Institute.— Historical and Scientific Societies.— The Seaside Institute.— Young Men's 
Christian Association, Boys' Club, Orphan Asylum.— Associated and Other Chanties, Public Charities. — 
Cemeteries. 

CHAPTER XIX 95 

Social Clubs and Fraternal Organizations.— The " Old Eclectic."— The Seaside.— The Roof Tree and the 
Algonquin Clubs.— The Masonic Order.— The Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Others.— Bridgeport's 
Amusements and Theatres in the Past.— Some Memorable Events.— The Beginning of Electrical Uses. 

CHAPTER XX loi 

The Standard. 

CHAPTER XXI • 108 

Biography. — Legal Profession. 

CHAPTER XXII 

Biography. — Medical Profession. 121 

CHAPTER XXIII . . 133 

General Biography. 

CHAPTER XXIV 188 

Manufacturing and Commercial Industries. 



Genbral Illustrations. 



Incle>c to Portrait Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Etc. 



Across the River, East Bridgeport, iSyn 43 

American Graphophone Co., The igg 

Americus Hose, No. 6 31 

Armstrong Mfg. Co., The 194 

Armory, The ■ 88 

Armory, The, Main Street Entrance 89 

Barnum Alcove, Historical Society Rooms . . facing. 
Barnum Institute of Science and History, The . facing. 

Barnum, Phineas Taylor 

Barnum School, The, East Bridgeport 

Beach, David Sherman 

Beardsley Park 

Beers, Hon. Alfred Bishop 

Beers, Philo M. 

Benedict, Celest A., M. D 

Berkshire Mill and Bridge 

Bethel A. M. E. Church, Broad Street 

Betts, George E 

Bill, Curtis Harvey, M. D. (Por. 126) 

Bishop, William F 

Brewster, Swan W 

Bostwick, Walter B 

Bridgeport Bank, The, 1S06 

Bridgeport Bank, The, 1S57 



PAGE. 

Bridgeport, Bird's Eye View of, 1897 12 

Bridgej^ort Brass Co., The 199 

Bridgeport Chain Co., The 189 

Bridgeport Crucible Co., The 191 

Bridgeport from Presbj-terian Church East 43 

Bridgeport Gas Light Co., The igo 

Bridgeport High School So 

Bridgeport Hospital 64 

Bridgeport Light, Winter of 1893 48 

Bridgeport, Map of, i82j 13 

Bridgeport Public Library 83 

Bridgeport, The Harbor oi Frontispiece 

Bridgeport Steamboat Co. , Docks of the 94 

Bridgeport, Streets of. After Blizzard of 1888 100 

Bridgeport "Standard" 1897, Page of the loi 

Brizell, Dr. John, Jr 182 

Broth well, Charles Ransom 154 

Buckingham. Charles Booth 171 

Bullard Machine Tool Co., The 203 

Bullard, Wm. Sumner 185 

Bunnell, William Henr\ 162 

Cairoli, John S. (Por. 182) 181 

Candee, Hon. John Dutton 102 

Canfield, Henry C) 186 



THE -STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF RRIDGEPORT. 



General Illustrations — Continued. 



Canfield Rubber Co., The iSg 

Carey, George Winton (Por. iig) 120 

Cedar Creek, View on 93 

Christ Church 23 

Church of the Nativity iS 

Churches of 1835 2r 

Circus Day in Bridgeport 90 

Citizens Gas Co., The . igo 

Clark, Frank E 171 

Collection of Historical Society facing 91 

Congress Street Bridge, North, 1S70 55 

Connecticut National Bank facing 72 

Cook, George Franklin 177 

Court House, Entrance to 63 

Cullinan, John 197 

Depot Property used for thirty years 41 

Diagram of Fire of 1845 30 

Doten, Charles Arthur (Por. iig) 120 

Downs, Frederick Bradley 132 

East Bridgeport After Blizzard of iSSS gg 

East Washington Avenue Baptist Church iS 

Easton, Edward D facing 200 

Eagle Brewery ig6 

Eaton, Cole & Burnham, Works of the facing ig4 

Eaton, Levi W 143 

Eckart Bros.' Brewery 196 

Entrance to Parochial School, Park Avenue 28 

Fairchild, Alfred Beach 174 

Fairfield Avenue from k. R. Crossing. 1876 gS 

Fairfield County Court House (13 

Fairchild, George Wilson 173 

First Baptist Church, present edifice 21 

First Congregational Church la 

First Court House, now City Hall f)2 

First Meeting House. Stratfield, i6g5 4 

First Methodist Church 

Fones, Hon. Civiliou , , 

Foote, Charles 

Franklin Typewriter E.\change, The 

Geo. W. Longstaff Co., The 

Gill, Rev. John W 

Goddard, Walter 

Goodsell, Zalmon 

Graves, Fred'k Chauncey, M. D. (Por. 127) ... 
Group of Ex-Mayors 

Hon. .Monson H.iwlev, Hon. Carlos Curtis. Hon. D. 

Morgan, Hon. James C. Loomis. Hon. P. T. Bainuni, H< 

John L. Wessels, Hon. Jarett Morford, Hon. Robert 

Clark, Hon. R. E. UeKorest. 
Group of Park Pictures 

Pe.ilbroke Park. Ueaidsley Park, .Seaside Park. 
Group of Portraits 

Hervey Higby, Wm. H. Hall. John E. Pond, Gide 

Thompson, F. W. Parrott, David M. Read, Russell Tonili 

son, William H. Mallory, D. K. I.ockwood. 

Group of Portraits 

stiles M. Middlebrook, Esq., Hon. C. H, Hubbell, Hon. P. 
Calhoun, Isaac Sherman, Esq., Hon Clapp bpooner, H< 
S. B. Beardsley, Hon. John Brooks. 

Group of Portraits 

Ira Sherman, Esq., Hantord I, von, Esq., Rev. Nathan 
Hewitt, D. D., Rev. Gurdon S. Coit, D. D., Hon. E. 
Goodsell. 



23 
158 
l&I 
ig6 

194 
155 
163 
14S 
125 

57 



PAGE. 

Group of Portraits 85 

W. S. Knowlton, Esq., Capt. Jas. E. Dunham, Elias Howe, 

Jr., Dr. H. N. Bennett. Hon. I). H. Sterling. 
Group of Portraits 87 

A. C. Hobbs, Esq., Hon. \V. D. Bishop, Hon. Patrick 

Coughlin, Major Frederick Frye, Gen. Wm. H. Noble, Chas. 

Foote, Esq., Major Thomas Boudren, Hon. Nathaniel 

Wheeler, Alfred Hopkins, Esq. 
Group of Portraits facing 93 

Rev. B. E. Warner. D. D., Jacob Kiefer, Esq., Capt. John C. 

Curtis, Gen. T. L. Watson, Rev. H. N. Powers, D. D., J. S. 

Hanover, Esq., Isaac Holden, Esq., Dr. F. M. Wilson, A. J. 

Hobbs, Esq. 

Hartman, Charles 179 

Hatch, Charles Edwin 1S4 

Hawes, Edmund Vincent 144 

Hoag, Dr. Alva 124 

Hoag, Ur. Clitus S. (Por. 125) 123 

Hollister, David Frederick (Por. no) 109 

Holmes & Edwards Silver Co., The iSg 

House of Steamer No. i 32 

House of Steamer No. 2 32 

House of Steamer No. 3 witli Truck No. i 34 

House of Steamer No. 4 33 

Hou.se of Steamer No. 5 33 

House of Steamer No. 6 34 

Hubbard, Robert M. D ■ .122 

Hubbell. Charles Benjamin 135 

Hubbell, Harvey 163 

Jackman, Frank H. (Por. 1S3) 181 

Jack.son, Horace Harton (Por. :86) 1S3 

Judson, Attorney Stiles, Jr 116 

Kane, Patrick ns 

Knowlton, Col. Julius W 153 

Kupfer, .Siegmund is6 

Lacey, Rowland B 141 

Lee, Henry 151 

Lockwood, Frederick Joel 143 

Log House or 1065 2 

Lynch, Dr. John Charles (Por. !2g) 127 

Main Street, from the Union Bank Building, South . . 50 
Main Street, from the Connecticut Bank Building, North 51 

Mann, Charles Wm 117 

Marigold, William H 159 

Marsh, Edward W iho 

Masonic Temple. Entrance to g6 

McElroy, James H 142 

McNeil, Archibald 6g 

McNeil, Capt- John 16G 

Merritt, Wm. Piatt 183 

Merwin, Orange 174 

Middlebrook, Major Louis Nathaniel 113 

Miller Building and Old Approach to I-ower Bridge . . 55 

Modern, Freight Locomotive 41 

Monuments in Stratfield Burying Place 7 

Montignani, Frank (Por. 178) 176 

Mountain Grove Cemetery, Entrance to 93 

Murphy, Timothy J 1S4 

Myrtle Avenue Presbyterian Church 18 

Officers of Fire Department ot 1897 ....... facing. 29 

Fred'k P. Beardsley, Hiram Campbell, C. F. Bamberg, 
J. H. Long, Wm. H. Murphy, E. J. Madden, T. R. Congon, 
G. F. Beardsley, E. M. Wilson, C. B. Tuttle, D. E. Johnson, 
C. E. Palmer. 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



General Illustrat 

PACE 

Old Baptist Church, State and Broad Streets . . 

Old Checks 

Old Freight Bill, Steamer Ninirod, 1S40 . . . 
Old Lower Bridge, and East Bridgeport ... 
Osborn, George Wakeman (Por. 128) . . . 
Osborn, George Ransom (Por. lyg) . 

Park Street Congregational Church . ... 

Phelan, John J. 

Piatt, C. Tryon 

Porter, Dr. Geo. Loring. . 

Post Office and Custom House ... 

Post Office, Entrance to the Arcade 

Post Office, Old, Bank Street Entrance . 

Post Office, The Arcade, Interior 

Presb_vterian Church, State Street and Myrtle Avenue 



ic5ns — C-ontiniied. 



Radel, Andrew (Por. 187) 

"Republican Standard," 1S39, Page of Vol. i, No. i 
Residences of P. T. Barnum, near Seaside Park . . 

Waldemere— Marina. 
Residence of the late Hanford Lvon . . 
Residence of Aaron Hawley, with Well 

Residence of G. C. Waldo 

Residence of Mrs. Nathaniel Wheeler 

Richardson, Geo 

Rusling, John A. (Por. 170) . . . 

Sanford Building, The 

Sanford, Charles Edwin (Por. 123) 
Scofteld, Horace Granfield (Por. iSi) 

Seal of the City of Bridgeport 

Seaside Club 

Seaside Club, Fire-place in Parlor 

Seaside Institute 

Seaside Institute, Entrance to 

Seaside Park 

Second Meeting House, Stratfield, 1717 
Silliman, Lewis B. (Por. 178) 

Smith, Friend William 

Snow Arch, Blizzard of 1S88 . 
Soldiers' Monument, Seaside Park 

Somers, George E 

South Congregational Church 

Southern New England Tel. E.xchange 

Staples, Frank T 

Stapleton. Walter ... 
Sterling. Hon. Daniel H. 
Stevens, Frederick H. . . 
Stevenson, Col. Wm. H. . . , 
•■Standard " Building, The 

St. Augustine's Church, R. C 

St. John's Church, Broad and Cannon Streets 

St. John's Church, Present edifice 

St. Mary's Church, R. C 

Statue of Elias Howe, Jr. , Seaside Park 
Statue of P. T. Barnum. Seaside Park 

St. Paul's Church. 

Stoddard, Goodwin. 

Stowell, George R 



facing 



facing 



180 



119 



7t) 



rAGE. 

• 193 



Swords, W. F., Lumber Co., Establishment of . 

Swords, W. F. Lumber Co 192 

Tallmadge, Albert M. . . 119 

Tangle of Poles and Wires , 92 

Taylor, Thomas Porter . . 146 

The Elevator .44 

The First Harbor Light 46 

The First Light House, 1S55 ... ... 47 

The Second Harbor Light . . , . .46 

The Third Harbor Light • • 47 

Thompson, Curtis .112 

Thompson, H. Adaline, M. D. (Por. 131) 130 

Toomey, Jeremiah Dean, Jr 118 

Topping, J. Read, M. D. (Por. 130) 127 

Torrey & Hubert . 197 

Trinity Church .23 

Truck of Hook and Ladder No. 2 . . . 34 



The 



LInion Bank Building . . 
Union Metallic Cartridge C 

Universalist Church 

Upson, Elliott Abram 

U. S. Torpedo Boat Ericsson, etc 



76 
18S 



ibi 
48 



Views in and near Beardsley Park . 

Views of Historical Society's Rooms, 

View in Museum, Bridgeport Scientific Society 



Wade, Patrick 

Wakeman, Howard Nichols . , 

Waldo, Geo. C 

Wallace, Aaron W. . 
Wallis, George H. T . 

Warren, Tracy Bronsun 

Washington Park . . 

Weber, Robert ... 

West End School . . 

Wheeler & Howes 

Wheeler, Nathaniel 

Wheeler, Nathaniel (Por. facing) . . . 
Wheeler Nathaniel, Residence of . . 
Wheeler & Howes' Building . . 
Wheeler & Howes' Coal Docks . 
Wheeler & Wilson Mfg. Co. . . 

Whiting, Russell Tomlinson 

Wilmont & Hobbs Mfg. Co. ... 

Wilmot, Samuel Russell 

Wintter, Albert F. N 

Wintter, A. & Co 's Brewery . . 

Wilson, James 

Wordin, Nathaniel Eugene, M. D . . 
Works of the Bridgeport Gas Light Co. 



. . . 6q 
. ... 91 
facing 90 



106 
119 
105 
I So 
1S4 
155 
66 



. Si 
... 192 
facing 136 
. ... 136 
facing 136 
. ... 192 
facing 193 



156 
19S 
145 
162 
195 
157 



Yellow Mill and Bridge .55 

Young, Francis James, M. D. (Por. 131) . . . 12S 

Young. Mary Rising (Por. 131) 130 

Young Men's Christian Association Building . . .91 

Zion A. M. E. Church, Broad Street 22 



THE 
"STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



CHAPTER I. 

THK INDIAN' OW'NKRS OK THK SOU. AND IHb.lK lll^P0^s^;SS10N 1;V IHK WHITK.S. IHK GULIIKN Hll.l, 

kKSERVAIUIN. THE S IR ATI- I K1,L) PARISH. THE NEW SOCIETY AND THE MEETING 

HOUSES. THE <'.Rn\VrH KlWAKD THE WATER. NEW FIELD 

FERRY AND I.orlERY I'.RIDGE. 

IN the Bridgeport Daily Staiuiard iov October 28, 1870, appeared the following item of local interest: 
^ "The frequent finding of Indian bones and skulls in ditTerent places about the city suggests the 
question whether Bridgeport ma)- not have been at some remote period in the past, one immense 
Indian hunting and burying ground. Every few days bones are being broitght to light by excavation, 
and now we find by digging for the new wing of the Prospect street school house, that the ground 
there was once quite a large burying place. Some fifty graves have been exposed and a large 
number of human bones and skulls are found buried a few feet below the surface." 

Not only in the locality mentioned have Indian remains been exhumed, but on Golden Hill, at 
Seaside Park, and in several other places within the city limits where excavations for new buildings 
or for city improvements have taken place, and the collections of Historical and Scientific Societies in 
the Barnum Institute contain interesting specimens of these finds. 

Were there no other evidences of an Indian occupation of this territory, these would be sufficient, 
but it is a matter of record that at the time of the first white settlement of this coast, it was occupied 
by a sub-division of the Algonquins, an Indian tribe or race of ancient origin and great numbers. 

The Algonquins are said to have migrated east from the Mississippi valley over 1,200 years ago, 
and to that family belonged all the New England tribes, including the Norridgwoks, Massachusetts, 
Naragansetts, Pequots, Mohegans, and, among the smaller tribes, the Paugussetts, whom DeForest 
locates on the territory between the Unkawas of Fairfield, and the Wepawaugs of Stratford. On 
DeForest's map {1830) the Paugussetts were stretched from the mouth of the Pequonnock river north, 
to and across the Housatonic. At Stratford a smaller local tribe were the Cupheags. 

The Indian settlements followed the coasts and the river valleys, but the great interior forests 
away from the rivers were practically uninhabited. There were three villages or collections of 
wigwams of the Paugussetts on the Pequonnock river and the coast below it, one at the foot of what 
is now Golden Hill, one at the head of the cove near the junction of State street and Fairfield avenue, 
and the other west of Uncoway river, or Ash creek as it is now known. There were level and fertile 
reaches of land within this territory, stretching back from the shore, and here the Indians planted 
their corn, which the squaws cared for while the braves were following the chase in the interior. 

Undoubtedly many generations of Indians lived and died here before a white man's foot ever tiod 
the shore, and here, after the original settlement in 1638-39, for 125 years more, the Indians lived, 
died and were buried in what was known as the " Golden Hill reservation." 

In 1638 the Indians at Uncoway river and on the Housatonic had given to the General Court at 
Hartford, territory at both Fairfield and Stratford, and on the land thus ceded, settlers had located in 
the following year. There was no attempt at this time to acquire an}- further title from the Indians, 
the first deed from them being dated twenty-five years later. The settlers at Fairfield and Stratford 
pushed the Indians both east and west, and there must have been many conflicts of title with the usual 
result of the ousting of the Indian from his former possessions and the acquiring of his land by the 



2 THE "STAXDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

white man. In the year 1659 the necessity of some definite arrangement was so pressing that the 
General Court at Hartford, " having considered the business respecting the Indians at Paquanack and 
the dii?erences twixt Stratford and Fairfield," each town striving to push the Indians over upon the 
land of the other, "do see cause to order that according imto the desire of the Indians, they may 
quickly possess and enjoy from henceforth and for the future, that parcel of land called Gold Hill, 
and there shall be forthwith so much land laid out within the liberties of Fairfield as the committee 
appointed by the Court shall judge fit, and in as convenient a place as may best answer the desire and 
benefit of the Indians forementioned, for the future." 

This land was to be in full satisfaction for all claims to the Indians. The committee appointed 
to attend to this business was Mr. Camfield, Mr. Fitch, Richard Olmsted, Nathaniel Elye, of 
Norwalk, "who are to bound out the lands at Golden Hill, about eighty acres, beg-inning- at the foot of 
the hill where the wigwams stood, and to run upward on the hill and within Fairfield bounds, as i.s 




Log House of I 
'ing by the late Is 



Sherman, Esq.) 



above mentioned." The committee acted, and, having established the reservation, made a report of 
their work, requiring "that the Fairfield men shall pay to the Stratford men for the eighty acres that 
the Indians do possess at Paquanocke (Gold Hill reservation), twenty pounds, this to be paid in beefe, 
porke, wheate and pease. Of beefe 2 barrels, (and) of porke, good and merchantable, which we value 
at twelve pounds, and 8 pounds to be paydin wheat and pease: — wheate at 4 shillings and 6 pense the 
bushell, pease 3 shillings 6 pense the bushell, good and merchantable, and this to be payd of Fairfield 
to Stratford men betwixt this and the first day of ilarch next ensuing." 

Upon the.se terms between the two settletnents was the Gold Hill (Golden Hili) reservation of 
eighty acres established, and this price in " beefe, porke, wheate and pease " is the first valuation of 
what was afterward to be an important part of the city of Bridgeport. Here for over a century lived 
the remnant of the original Indian tribes, constantly encroached upon by whites, dwindling in 
numbers under the influence of the stronger race, selling off portions of their reservation, as it became 



THE ''STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



too large for their decreasing rminbcrs, till in 1765 only four persons remained. These were removed 
and the land given to the whites. 

In the year 1639 and at about the same season, the permanent settlements at Stratford and Fairfield 
were made. Twenty years after this, in 1659, the first deed from the Indians in Stratford was recorded. 
It was to Moses Wheeler. Then the Golden Hill reservation was set apart to the Indians who were, 
after that event, known as the Golden Hill Indians. During the century or more of the occttpation of 
this reservation great changes had taken place in the two settlements. They had grown to be quite 
large and important towns. 

Between these towns, back of the Golden Hill reservation and about two miles north from 
the shore, so as to avoid the deep water of the lower river and the necessity of a drawbridge, a 
commodious public road had been laid out about 1641, when the General Court enjoined upon 
towns " to keep the highways between the towns open, full two rods in width." 

Pushing out along this "King's Highwaj'," the one to the east and the other to the west, the 
parent parishes had met and formed at, and about what is now the junction of North and Park 
avenues, a new village which, mindful of its origin, at a later date took the first syllable of Stratford 
and the last syllable of Fairfield, and named it.self Stratfield. The first settlers West of the 
Pequonnock were Henry vSummers, Sr. , and Samuel Cxregory. They probably lived in log houses 
located near the junction of Park and North avenues. In fifty years, from .small beginnings, this 
village grew to be a very considerable place, and then in view of its numerous households and the 
long distance to the home towns, in 1690 forty-.si.K of its householders petitioned the General Court for 
the establishment of a new parish, and in 1691 the parish of Stratfield was duly authorized. From a 
copy of the original petition the following names of the signers are taken : 



John Bardsle, Sr. 

Richard Hubbell, Sr. 

Matthew Sherwood 

Sam'l Wells 

Isaac Wheeler 

James Benitt 

David Reynolds 

Nathn'l Knap 

Will Barsley 

Matthew Sherwood, Jr. 

Isaac Wheeler, Sr. 

Thomas GriiTln 

Roburd Bishop 

Samuel Morhous 

Jacobe Wakelen 
vSamuel Bardsle 



Sam'l Hubbell 
Sam'l Bardsley, Sr. 
Samuel Hall 
David Sherman 
Richard Hubbell 
Samuel (iregory 
Sam'l Treadwell 
John Odell, Sr. 
"izhak Hall 
John Wheller 
Thomas Wheller 
Joseph Seeley 
Moses Jackson, Jr. 
Samuel Jackson 



ICphraim Wheller 
Daniel Bardsle 
.Samuel French 
Sam'l Hubbell 
Timothy Wheller 
Thomas Benit 
Ed. Treadwell 
Jacob Joy 
John (Jdell. Jun'r 
John Benitt, Jur 
Thos. Morhous, Jr. 
John Sherwood 
Joseph Joy 
Sam'l Sumers 

Matthew Sherwood, Jr. 

Moses Jackson, Sr. 

These signatures possess great interest to the old Bridgeporter, for among them, sometimes 
partially concealed by the peculiar orthography, are the names of families prominent in the history of 
the city from its birth, and still largely identified with its affairs. 

KAIRFIEI.D VILI.Ai;E (sTR AT FI EI.d). 

In those daj's church and state were closely identified, and the establishment of a new parish 
meant, practically, the establishment of a new village. It had not the full organization of the parent 
towns, but its rights and privileges were set forth by the General Assembly in 1669. 

The original grant by the General Assembly was made to "the people of Pequonnock." In the 
definition of rights the village is called "Fairfield Village," but in Ma)', 1701, the name was finally 
changed to Stratfield. 

The first meeting house was located on what is now known as "Meeting Hou.se Hill," on Park 
avenue, and was completed in 1695, meetings having been held, in the interval, at private houses. 
The first minister was the Rev. Charles Chauncey, son of Mr. Israel Chauncey, the minister of 
Stratford, who was of a good English family. Beside the right to elect a constable, the establishment 
of a parish at Stratfield carried the obligation of organizing a train band or military company, and in 



THE -STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. 

October 1703 "David Sherman was appointed ensign of the train band of Stratfield." The 
complement of officers was completed in the following spring by the appointment of "Lieut. 
Tohn Beardslev to be Captain of the train band of Stratfield, and Lent. James Bennet to be their 
lieutenant " Captain Beardsley was a veteran from the train band of Stratford, and Lieutenant 
Bennet from that of Fairfield, so that the Stratfield military organization was as composite as the name 
of the place, and in about the same proportions. As to the " rank and file," history is more reticent, 
but it is to be presumed they were found in due season. 

The church first founded at Stratfield was the parent and origin ...f the old First church of 
Bridgeport, and its history for many years is closely identified with that of Stratfield Village and with 
Bridgeport Borough, Town and City. 

The Rev Mr. Chauncev's salary was at one time " eighty pounds " paid in provisions at the 
rulin*^ rates which may be expressed about as follows : Wheat, ss- per bushel; Indian corn and rye, 
3S per bushel- pork a^d. per pound. He also had a liberal supply of firewood of oak and hickory. 
Extracts from 'the church records (1699-17 15) show that at this time the drum was used to summon 
the people to church, and the drummer was instructed to march around the meeting house m order 

that the sound of his call might 
penetrate in all directions. 

In the year of the establish- 
ment of the Stratfield parish, 1691, 
a street was laid out from the 
Fairfield line to Pequonnock har- 
bor, two citizens of Fairfield being 
appointed "to view where it is 
most convenient for a highway to 
pass in ye Fairfield to Paquonnock 
Harbor and to treat with ye per- 
sons through whose land said high- 
way should pass." This street was 
what is now State street, and it 
opened up a new route of com- 
munication between Fairfield and 
Stratford, so far as Pequonnock 
river, and along the shore. At 
the harbor, at the end of this 
street, there was, as yet, no per- 
manent settlement, and it was 
not till many years afterward, 
Fn,t Mc-.tm.. iim.s. Mra.nei' r ^"^^^ ^^'^^ beginning of Bridgeport 

was made at the shore. 
The attractions of the water were constant, however, and the use of the street must have been 
considerable from the first, increasing as the Stratfield settlers joined in visits to the shore, and the 
building of houses along Division street, now Park avenue, began. It was ninety-six years after the 
above layout of State street, or in 1787, that the Fairfield County Court authorized the laying out of 
Main street, which was then known as "the road at the foot of Golden Hill" and State street, 
designated as " the road from the dwelling of the widow, Eunice Hubbell, near the stores at Newfield 
(the first name of Bridgeport) to the town line between Stratford and Fairfield." This latter layout 
must have embraced the original street as laid out in 1691. 

The report of the committee empowered to make this layout contains some interesting statements. 
It is addres-sed "To the Honorable County Court to be holden at Fairfield, within and for the County 
of Fairfield, on the 3d Tuesday of April, 1787 " and recites that 
" Whereas — 

We, the subscribers, were by Your Honors, at your adjourned session held at Danbury, in 
and for said County on the 3d Tuesday of January last, appointed a committee to view, widen and 
alter the road at the foot of Golden Hill, so-called, down to the dwelling house of the widow Eunice 




THE 



STAXDARiyS- HISTORY OF BKH)GEI'OKT. 



4 - 



Hubbell, near the stores at Newfield, in said Stratford, and also the road from said Widow Hubbell's 
into the town lirje between Stratford and Fairfield, for the benefit of travelers and carriages passing 
to and from said stores: 

We beg leave to report •• * * * From this point the report goes on and gives details of the 
layout and widening of the two streets. Main and State respectively, Main street from its junction 
with Washington avenue, and State street from its termination in the layout of 1691, west to the 
Fairfield line. 

The report states: "And there is to be reserved in said road (Main st.), for Aaron Hawley, for 
convenience round his well, which stands about the width in said road, liberty of erecting a fence, 
beginning twelve feet in the west line of said highway northward of said well, and from thence 
extending southerly twelve feet to strike the westerly line of said highway." This was to accommo- 
date the public who ttsed the well of Aaron Hawley, whose house stood on ground now occupied by 
the wooden block belonging to the late Nathaniel Wheeler, on the corner of Main and Chapel streets. 
The well is now imder the sidewalk south of the corner of Chapel street. 

In ]\Iay, 1787, a resolution passed in the General Assembly which shows that the settlement on 
the water-front at the termination of State street and along the course of Main street had become of 
considerable importance, and that 
travel along that route between 
Fairfield and Stratford demanded 
increased facilities. The resolu- 
tion was as follows: 

" Upon report of a committee 
appointed in May last, which is 
now accepted and approved, Re- 
solved by this assembly that the 
town of Stratford be, and they are 
hereby empowered and allowed to 
keep and maintain a public ferry 
in said town across the Creek or 
Harbor called New Field Harbor, 
from the point of land called 
New Pasture Point, below Toby's 
wharf to the opposite shore of 
said harbor or creek, to and onto 
the land of Aaron Hawley about 
ten rods south of said Hawley's 
dwelling house, and that two suffi- 
cient boats shall be constantly 

kept, one on each side of said creek, plying from shore to shore as occasion may require, at the places 
aforesaid, during the pleasure of this assembly all subject to the same relations that other Ferries in 
this state are by Law subject to." 

This ferry line was from the point now occupied by the Steel works across to the foot of Union 
street, but it accommodated the public for only a brief period, for in May, 1791, the town of Stratford 
authorized the building of a bridge "across the Pecjuonnock river nearly ojiposite Cannon lS: 
Lockwood's wharf," and the General Assembly of that date authorized Robert Walker and others, of 
Stratford, to establish a lottery to raise funds for the building of a bridge across Newfield Harbor. 
Stratford then petitioned that the expense of maintaining the bridge should not fall upon the town, 
and by action of the assembly upon report of a committee in the same year the road was changed 
from its terminus at the ferry at New Pasture Point to conform to the locatiim of the new bridge. 
This bridge was known as "Lottery Bridge at Newfield." The "port" had been established as far 
back as the laying out of vState street in 1691, and now the "bridge" was in evidence, from which 
two things the name of the new town was subsequently to be derived. 

Stratfield had, in the period between the establishment of the First church (1691) and the 
building of the first bridge at Newfield (1791), grown into quite a large village. The war of the 




Residence of Aa 



■ith Well in the Street Line. 



6 THE '' STANDARD- S'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

Revolution had passed and the country was entering upon its career as a free republic, but still 
preserving the customs, laws and many of the prejudices of its previous condition. The Stratfield 
Congregational church had been compelled to build a new and more commodious edifice, which was 

erected on the northwest corner of Park and North avenues 
in 171 7. The Rev. Mr. Chauncey had been succeeded by 
the Rev. Samuel Cooke, who was ordained February 14, 
1 7 16. His salary was ^100 and firewood. He re- 
mained pastor till his death, which occurred September 2 
1747. It is said that small as was his salary, it was not 
all paid, and his executors brought suit against the parish 
for ;^3,ooo arrears due his estate. During his ministry 
the second church was built. Mr. Cooke was succeeded 
by the Rev. Lyman Hall, who was ordained September 
, , -J ^ -'■-■--- •- -' :-''". ^^^ 20, 1749, and his pastorate closed June 18, 1751. After 

^ „ . „ ^. .^ ,, that he taught school in Fairfield, studied medicine and 

Second Meeting House, Stratfield, 1717. '^ ' 

became a physician. He was succeeded by the Rev. 
Robert Ross, whose pastorate extended to 1796. During the period of these three pastorates 
many changes had taken place in the little village, as well as in the country at large. 





'^^m^'^'T' 



CHAPTER II. 




AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH I'OKMKD. THK OLD S L. JnHN S. THE REVOLUTION' AND THE WAR OE lSl2.— SCENES 

AND INCIDENTS IN EACH. THE VISEl'S OF W ASHINI.;T0N' TO NlCHOLS' TAVERN. THE 

PRITISH FLEET STIRS UP THE PEOPLE. LAFAYETTE's 

VISIT TO IIRIDGEPORT. 

|N Orciitt's History of Stratford and Bridgeport is given (p. 557) a full list of the inscriptions in the 
old Stratfield (or Pequonnock) Burying Place, on the Black Rock road, and the study of that list 

will show, more than anything else can, the composition of the ancient community. The dates start 

as far back as i688, but the legible inscriptions 
are from about 171 2, and the place has been but 
little used since 1S12. Some of the monuments 
are given herewith. 

In 1748 a portion of the people of Stratfield 
had associated themselves together in the forma- 
tion of an Episcopal church, the first records of 
which appear in the following summons issued in 
tluit year, "to those persons professers of the Epis- 
copal church, inhabitants of Stratfield Society, to 
appear at the Church in said Society, Thursday 
the ninth day of instant, December, at two o'clock 
in the afternoon, for the purpose of forming them- 
selves into one body Corporate, or Society, for to 
chuse Society officers for the well ordering and 

governing the prudential affairs of said Episcopal church as they in 

their wisdom shall judge meet and fitting." 

At the time designated in this call officers were selected and the 

first rector, Mr. Philo Shelton, was chosen. Mr. Shelton w-as then a 

lay reader, not having been ordained, but upon the coming of Bishop 

Seabury he was admitted to the order of deacons, and in 1785 was 

ordained a priest of the Episcopal church in Trinity Church in New 

Haven. The Rev. Mr. Shelton was the first person ordained to the 

Episcopal ministry in this country. His charge was the parishes of 

"Fairfield, Stratfield and Weston," and among the three he divided 

his time. The Stratfield Episcopal Church and parsonage lot were 

located on the map carefully prepared by the late Isaac vSherman 

and Deacon Rowland B. Lacey and published in Orcutt's History of 

Stratford and Bridgeport (1886), at the corner of King's Highway 

and Church lane, now Wood avenue. 

The church was named St. John's and " was a frame building 

with a steeple, " This was occupied till the removal of the church 

to Bridgeport, in 1801. The rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Shelton con- 
tinued xmtil Easter, 1824, and under him the parish increased largely. '~' ' 

Next in order of time comes the Methodist Episcopal Church, through the preaching of Jesse 

Lee, Presiding Elder of the Fairfield Circuit in 1790, w'hich resulted in the raising of a church in 1797 

on Toilsome Hill, on the Division street road, about three miles north of North avenue, at the junction 

of the roads. This church was occupied till 1815, when "the old Congregational meeting house at 



Here 

Lyes ln1fe'r'p''c[ 

<l Body of ^e Rev? 

M"^ Samuel Cooke 

Late TaiAfall 
Mmiftev oiSfratfieU 

wlio died Dec'iV Z'f 

^L/ear>s. , 



8 THE "STANDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

Stratfiekl was purchased for use by the Methodists, and for about six \-ears was their gathering place 
for public worship. 

1775 AND 1812. 

During the War of the Revolution, and later in 1812, Newfield was not without her share of excit- 
ing experiences. The British drove the coastwise commerce practically off the water, and rendered 
communication with the larger cities by water difficult and dangerous. Fairfield was burned and the 
country laid waste as far as Danbury, but the enemy passed Newfield by, as, probably, too small for 
plunder. In his "Historical Notes" Major Wm. B. Hincks gives some interesting incidents of those 
days, as follows : — 

w ashington's visits. 

Lying as it did upon the old King's Highway, the main road between New York and Boston, 
Stratfield was visited during the Revolution by Washington upon several occasions, first in 1775 on his 
way to Boston to take command of the American or Continental array. He was met at this time by 
the Rev. Dr. Ripley, pastor of the Congregational Church in Green's Farms, who joined his cavalcade 
and rode with him to Bulkley's inn in Fairfield. Dr. Ripley was a fine looking and dignified man, and 
he was compared favorably with the Commander-in-chief as they rode together. Dr. Ripley accom- 
panied Washington as far east as the Stratford ferry. 

On one of his visits General Washington, with a portion of his staff, halted at Nichols' tavern in 
Stratfield and took refreshments there, occup}'ing the southwest corner room as their parlor. The 
locating of this " Nichols' tavern," thus made memorable, was one of the interesting events in the 
recent bi -centennial celebration of the North church, the historic site being No. 910 North avenue. 

There are other well-authenticated instances of the visits to this locality, of the great Washington 
on his various tours through the coiintry, and one in company w'ith General Lafayette is particulaily 
interesting. Incidents that illustrate the patriotic zeal of oiir ancestors are not wanting, and perhaps 
the fact that Washington, and more or less of the members of his staff, passed over the old "King's 
Highway" during the Revolution and stopped at Nichols' tavern, as well as at divers and sundry other 
places, for rest and refreshment, may have served to keep that zeal at something akin to fever heat. 
Major Hincks gives a story very much to the point which runs thus: 

"At noon upon the second of Februars", 1775, as we are informed by an old diary, kept by one of 
the residents of the place, there was heard by the inhabitant.s of Stratfield a report in the air like 
thunder, and a great ball of fire of various colors was seen to fly swiftly through the sky to the 
eastward. 

"Whether this was regarded as prophetic of bloodshed we are not told, but in the latter part of 
April the news reached the settlement of the battle of Lexington. Much excitement was created and 
Captain Abijah Sterling immediately raised a detachment of ten men and marched for the seat of war. 
Upon their arrival at Hartford they reported to the authorities, but finding for some cause that their 
services were not required, returned home." 

A more satisfactory outcome of a campaign could hardly be imagined, and it is easy to conceive 
how these worthy warriors, in the enjoyment of their subsequent renown, might gather their grand- 
children about them and chill their young blood with stories of the horrors of "the great ball of fire." 

INCIDENIS OF THE REVOLUTION. 

"Much alarm was excited in this vicinity by the appearance of seven British vessels, which 
anchored off Southport on the 5th of March, 1777. The Stratfield militia company, under Capt. Abijah 
.Sterling and Lieut. Nathan Seeley, accompanied by the harbor guard, promptly repaired to the spot, 
where other detatchments of troops had already assembled. Twelve or fourteen boats full of men put 
off from the fleet, but after a slight skirmish were repulsed and compelled to return without eft"ecting 
a landing. 

"About this time the parish of Stratfield was visited by the scourge of small-pox. The disease 
arose from infection communicated by exchanged prisoners of war, who had been landed under flag of 
truce, on Stratford Point, by the British in the preceding January. These prisoners were entertained 
upon their way home by Captain John Brooks, of Stratford. 



THE -'STAXDARIfS" HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. g 

"Although every precaution was taken against contagion in Capt. Brooks' family, the disease 
spread, and quickly communicated itself to the adjoining parishes. The horror of this complaint can 
scarcely be imagined by us at the present day. Vaccination, as now practiced, was unknown. Almost 
every dwelling was a pest house. People feared even to pass along the roads, lest they should receive 
the dreaded infection. The guards at the harbor forsook their posts. The number of sick at one time 
in the town of Stratford was estimated at 600 persons. In May, 1777, Timothy Wheeler and twelve 
other residents of Stratfiekl petitioned the Legislature for relief. This was followed a few weeks after- 
ward by another petition, signed by the Rev. Robert Ross, and twenty-one others. In this it was 
stated that the condition of affairs had become insupportable and that the people were growing 
de^Sperate and even threatened to pull down the infected houses, and shoot the sufferers, if the plague 
could not be stayed in any other way. 

"By direction of the Legislature, (leneral Silliman, of Fairfield, who was charged with the coast 
defense, was authorized to take the matter in hand and by use of vigorous measures the progress of 
the scourge was finally stayed. ****** 

"Quite a number of prizes, mostly small craft engaged in contraband trade, were captured in the 
sound by privateers during the war. On the 29th of May, 1777, Captain David Hawley brought four 
vessels of this description into Black Rock Harbor, and on the 9th of December, Captain Brown, of 
Stamford, brought into Newfield harbor, a small schooner laden with provisions, which he had 
captured. 

"Captain Samuel SmecUey, who commanded the brig Defense, the most successful vessel in the 
colonial navy, was a resident of Stratfiekl parish before the war. He was afterward collector of 
customs for many years in the district of Fairfield. One of his prizes taken upon the ocean was the 
British ship Cyrus, mounting eighteen guns, and laden with a cargo that sold for ^20,000, one of the 
most valuable captures made during the whole war. At the time of the attack Captain Smedley's own 
vessel was in a leaky condition, and many of his crew sick with the small-pox." 

Thus both Stratfiekl and Newfield had their taste of the fortune of war, and were, doubtless, put 
to the same inconvenience by the cutting off of all foreign commerce that most other seaboard towns 
suffered during the Revolution. 

It is the record of history that there were many tories in this section at that period, and that fact 
has seriously embarrassed quite a number of would-be "Sons" and ''Daughters" of the Revolution, 
it these latter days. 

THK WAR OF l8l2. 

Quite similar conditions prevailed during the war of 1S12. The enemy drove our commerce off 
the Sound, and although he did not land and burn and destroy as in the previous war, he kept the 
community in a state of excitement and fear that must have been unfavorable to the reasonable 
enjoyment of life. Again we quote fi'om the "Historic Notes" of Major Hincks: 

"Early in the war a company of state militia, commanded by Lieutenants Curtis and Bellamy, 
was quartered in an old bakery on Water street, on the ground now occupied by the Housatonic rail- 
road building, and details were sent down daily to mount guard on this earthwork, upon the penin.sula 
know as the Tongue. Another detachment occupied Fort L^nion, upon Grover's hill, at Black Rock. 

"During the war of 1812 New London was blockaded for a number of months by a British fleet, 
while the coasting trade of Long Island Sound was for a long time almost entirely suspended, owing 
to the presence of the fleet and the activity of several privateers, fitted out in the British provinces. 
One was known as the Liverpool Packet, and sailed from Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and picked up, among 
other prizes, two sloops running as packets between Bridgeport and New York. 

THE COMIiNd OF THK I'.RITISH FLKFT. 

"About the year 1S14, when the company at the Tongue had been ordered elsewhere, the com- 
munity was startled one afternoon at the sight of two British men-of-war coming to anchor opposite 
the town. These vessels belonged to the fleet under the charge of Sir Thomas Hardy, the friend and 
companion of the illustrious Nelson, which was blockading Decatur at New London. From every 
appearance it seemed the ships were preparing to shell the town, and by the aid of a spy-glass it could 
be seen that their decks were filled with men. The people gazed in fright, expecting a like fate as in 
the Revolution, and though the sun went dcnvn and darkness came on without the firing of a gun, or 



lo THE -STAXDARirS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

any attempt being made to land, still the excitement on shore was great, and continued to increase 
throughout the night. No one slept, church bells were rung, money and valuable papers from the 
Bridgeport bank were removed into the country for security, and not a few of the people, taking with 
them their most portable property, sought safety iipon the summit of Toilsome Hill. Of course the 
militia was called out and made ready to welcome the invaders, and General Enoch Foote sent 
messengers for reinforcements to all the neighboring towns. 

"To the great relief of all, when morning dawned, not a trace of the British ships could be seen, for 
they had sailed during the night, having only anchored here to procure a supply of fresh provisions, 
which, under the cover of darkness, were purchased of certain parties on shore. A man named 
Garlick, who was proprietor of the Johnson tide mill, in West Stratford, carried on contraband traffic 
of this kind quite extensively, buying many sheep and cattle and .selling them again, at such times, 
to the officers of the British fleet. The enemy never made any attempt to land here, but their vessels 
were frequently in sight and caused much alarm among the people. 

"One evening, when these vessels were in sight, the sentinel stationed upon the shore, near where 
the soldiers' monument now stands, rode furiously uptown, shouting at the top of his voice: 'The 
British have landed!' Two parties were sent down, in different directions, to meet the supposed 
invaders, and in the darkness fired upon each other, causing great excitement for some time, but, 
fortunately, no lives were sacrificed. 

PE.-\CE DECLARED. 

" The news of the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain was received in New 
York on February ii, 1S15. and was welcomed with an illumination. A public celebration in honor 
of the event was held in Bridgeport, February 23. There was firing of cannons and ringing of bells 
at daybreak, and in the forenoon a procession, headed by a band of music, marched through the 
streets to the North church, where the president's proclamation was read, and the Revs. Shelton and 
Waterman offered prayer, and J. A. Crocker delivered an oration. After the exercises in the church 
were concluded there was a public dinner at Knapp's h(.)tel and a ball in the evening. 

(;exer.\l l.\f.avette's cominc;. 

"On the night of August 20, 1S24, General Lafayette and suite, while on a journey from New 
York to Boston, stopped in Bridgeport, at Knapp's hotel, on the corner of Wall and Water streets. 
Preparations had been made for an escort to meet the party in Fairfield, and conduct it in triumph 
to the hotel, but these were disconcerted by the lateness of tiie hour — past eleven o'clock — of the 
general's arrival, nearly every one having given up expecting him, and retired to rest. An eye-wit- 
ness gives the following account of his reception the next morning: At five in the morning the bells 
began ringing and the cannons firing. Lafayette had arrived, and slept securely through the night 
at Knapp's. A few minutes later the street in front of the hotel was thronged with men, and the walk 
before the brick stores was filled with ladies. Lafayette and his suite made their appearance upon the 
balcony, between !Mr. Hubbell and Mr. Lockwood. The people welcomed Lafayette with three cheers. 
He replied: ' I am very happy to receive your kind welcome.* Afterwards, placing his hand upon the 
balustrade, he exclaimed, not in a loud voice, but with much feeling, 'Happy, happy people!' 

"The ladies now formed in line in front of the men, and going up, one by one, shook hands with 
him. The men did the same, and I grasped the hand of Lafayette. After breakfast Lafayette 
resumed his journey eastward, and was accompanied by a disorderly procession of the townspeople, 
some on horseback, others in vehicles of various descriptions. 

"At Washington bridge General Enoch Foote made brief farewell remarks in behalf of the 
citizens of Bridgeport, but a few of the escort kept on as far as ^lilford." 



CHAPTF.R 111. 

THE r,(lR<H'i;H OF llRIDC.Kl'ORr. MR. I!.\CKUb LL.AI.MS THE CH.\RTER .\S HIS WOKK. I H !■: NAME Dla IDI.I) 

l:V I'HE BKIDl-.K A.\l> I'dKI. SOME OF THE EARLY BUSINESS 1-TRMS. A I(>\\\ l.\ 1821. — 

A I I TV IN I.S^fi. IHE C.ROWTH OF POPU 1, ATIDN . 

TH1-: liOROUCH OF BRIL)(;EP0RT. 

A T the opening of the present centnry, in the year 1800, the villaji-e of Newfield made an application 
to the (jeneral Assembly for a separate i^overnment and was, in response to that request, incor- 
porated as the Borough of Bridgeport. Although the settlement on the west bank of the Pequonnock 
river had long been known as Newfield village, and had claimed the attention of the General Assembly 
on several occasions, it was only two years before, in 1798, that the General Assembly had given it a 
local habitation as well as a name, and fixed its meets and boimds by legal enactment. But having 
secured the definition of its limits, it must needs desire a new and separate form of government. 
Then came the application for a Borough incorporation. Mr. Joseph Backus, a law3-er of Newfield, 
said to have been the only professional man which at the time it possessed, drafted the Borough 
charter or form of government and forwarded the movement vigorously. The charter was the first of 
that class instituted in this state, and the one upon which all other Connecticut Borough charters were 
founded. 

In a letter from I-.stiuire Joseph Backus to Robert Walker, Esq., under date of September 20, 1822, 
the former writes: " I say that I did of my own mere motion project the Borough incorporation (the 
first project of its kind in the state) and drew the charter and then submitted it to the citizens to obtain 
its enactment. " From the tone of this letter it would seem that the origin of the Borough charter 
might have been ([uestioned, and Squire Backus was desirous to emphasize his claim to its authorship 
as well as to its priority in point of time. 

At the first meeting of the Freemen of the Borough of Bridgeport under its charter, held Novem- 
ber 12, iSoo, Abijah Sterling, Esq., presided. "Joseph Backus was chosen clerk of said Borough for 
the ensuing year, and Mr. Sterling, who was a justice of the peace, administered the oath immediately. 
Amos Hubbell was chosen warden and Josiah Lacy, John S. Cannon, Salmon Hubbell, Lambert Lock- 
wood, William Peet and ^\'illiam Wordin were chosen Burgesses, and all were sworn in excej)! William 
Wordin who refused to serve. 

.\nd Isaac Hinman was chosen treasurer 

And William Peabody was chosen Bailiff and 

sworn by said Justice Sterling according to law. 

And voted — That the first meeting of the Warden and Burgesses be hoklcn at the dwelling house 
of Ezra Gregory in said Borough, on the 24th day of November, A. D. 1800, at 2 o'clock, afternoon." 

Thus the Borough government of "the port" was organized. In "Bridgeport As It Has Been" 
Chapter IV., discussing the Borough government, Mr. Sherwood says: 

"The only difference here in the power vested in the Warden and Burgesses and that vested in 
the Courts of Common Council of the several cities, aside from those relating to a Municipal Court, was 
that the Courts of Common Council could enact ordinances without submitting them to the freemen, 
while the ordinances adopted by the Warden and Burgesses had to be approved in Borough meeting." 

Why Bridgeport was not named Newfield, a name that had already been in use for many years, 
and acquired a very considerable currency, may well be asked. Then, also, the place had been known 
as Pequonnock, from the river and harbor of that name long acknowledged. Moreover, the latter 
name, being of Indian origin would have possessed historic suggestivencss. But as New Field had 
been an evolution, so also was Bridge Port. The conjunction of the two important adjuncts to 



THE -STAXDARiyS- HISTORY OF DRH)GEPORT. 



13 



commerce and the convenience of the traveling- public settled the matter and Bridgeport was the 
name chosen. 

So Bridgeport was instituted as a Borough, but she was still a portion oi the town of Stratford. 
Thither the people of Bridgeport Borough were compelled to go to vote, and this was not agreeable, 
particularly after the number of Bridgeport voters began to make their section of the town a power, 
and the more conservative dwellers in the town of Stratford realized that soon the Borough would 
out-vote them and compel such legislation as its citizens saw fit. This was not to be long endured, 
and a petition was sent to the General Assembly from Stratford in 182 1, a.sking that the Borough of 
Bridgeport be made a separate town. The Borough joined in this petition, and in justification thereof, 
showed that it had within its limits, 1,700 souls (about) and 218 dwelling houses, beside two flouring 
mills and seventy-three stores and manufactories. The taxable polls numbered 235 and the valuation 




Map of Bridgeport in 1S24. 

of jiroijerty, from the returns of the assessors in 1821, was $24,701. The petition was granted and the 
Bc.irough became a town. 

IHK IIKOINNINOS OK BUSINESS. 

A list of the individuals and firms doing business in the Borough of Bridgeport from its first 
settlement up to 1815 was compiled by the late Isaac Sherman, Esq., and is undoubtedly very complete, 
as his sources of information were excellent. The following summary gives them in brief: The first 
store opened at Xewfield was supposed to have been by Philip Nichols, and was located near the head 
of tide water. The date is about 1730. 

The second was located near the foot of State street, on a wharf and belonged to vStephen 
Burroughs. Then came Major Aaron Hawley; he sold to Daniel Young, of Norwich; then the firm of 
Abijah Hawley & Co. — Abijah, Aaron and Wilson — AVest India goods; then Captain Abraham Hubbell 
of Wilton, and Richard and Amos Hubbell, of Stratfield. who owned the brig Julius; then David 
Minot & Co., the company being Stephen Summers and Wm. De Forest. They owned the coaster 



14 THE •' STAXDARlfS-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

"Hope." Then cams Stephen Burroughs, Jr. (179S), who owned the sloop '■ Vohisia," and after him 
Stephen Burrough.s and Isaac Sherman with the coasters "Volusia," "Peacock," "Hero," and 
"Nassau." Amos Hubhell owned "the yellow store" in ;8oi, subsequently occupied by De 
Forest & Hinman, Hubbell & Sherwood, C. B. Hubbell and Daniel Fayerweather in the dry goods 
line. Later, C. B. Hubbell and John M. Thompson, of Stratford had it. Then came David Sterling, 
Dr. James E. Beach, Captain Sterling Sherman, all in the grocery, grain and " New York" business; 
iSicS to 1822. Isaac Sherman and John Brooks, Jr., ran the packet "Mary Ann;" David and John De 
Forest, Hall &Lyon, Seth and Silas Sherman, David Sherman and Nathan Seeley (i 794-1 797); Samuel 
Penny, Charles Bostwick and Samuel C. Kirtland ( 1806-1815.) These were the principal firms of that 
period, covering about eighty-five years. 

THK CITY -AND ITS CREDrr. 

In 1836 the town of Bridgeport secured from the legislature of the state a city charter, which 
was granted in May of that year. In the following year the city of Bridgeport loaned its credit to 
the Housatonic Railroad Company to the amount of $100,000, and afterward issued coupon bonds to 
the amount of §50,000 more in favor of the road, this being the first instance on record of the giving 
of municipal assistance to the building of a railroad. Questions as to the nature of the responsibility 
thjis incurred subsequently arose, and complications of a serious character were threatened. The city 
had at that time no adequate property upon which a levy might be made in satisfaction of these 
obligations and had made no provision for their payment. The question of individual responsibility 
of citizens, then a new thing, was taken to the courts, and it was established that the property of 
citizens could be holden for the debt. After considerable severe experience the city established a 
sinking fund, which in due time met all the obligations and finally extinguished the debt. 

Further reference will be made to this transaction hereafter. Shortly after the date of the 
incorporation of Bridgeport as a city, or in 1840, the population of Bridgeport was taken by Henry 
Edwards, enumerator, and was returned as 4,570. Ten years later (1850) it was taken by William 
R. Bunnell and the return was 7,558, while in 1S60 George W. Lewis, enumerator, found 13,299, 
showing a most remarkable increase during the decade. In 1870 the enumeration was made by 
Philo F. Barnum and showed 19,876 persons, and in 1880 the census taken by William E. Disbrow 
discovered a population of 29,153. In the seventeen years since that time Bridgeport has more tlian 
doubled in population, the number being now above 60,000. 




CHAPTER IV. 

THE PROGRESS OF THE OLD EIRST CHURCH. — ITS REMOVAL FROM Sl'RATKlKLD TO "THE I'ORT. " 

ITS HISTORY THAT OF THE TOWN' UP TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 1818. WHAT THE DISESTAH- 

I.ISHMENT MEANT. THE BI-CENTENNIAL OF THE CHURCH. — INTERESTING CEREMONIES AND 

EVENTS. THE SECOND OR SOUTH CHURCH. 

CHURCH AND STATE. 

\ A / HEX, following- the growth of population and the trend of development, the First Congregational 
Society of Stratfield removed to the Borough of Bridgeport in iSo8, they built a new church 
upon the site of their present edifice. The Rev. Robert Ross had been succeeded by the Rev. Samuel 
Blatchford as pastor of this church, and he was in charge from November 22, 1797, to March 20, 1804, 
when he resigned. He was succeeded by the Rev. Elijah Waterman, whose pastorate extended from 
January i, 1806, to his death, October 11, 1825. It was during his pastorate that the change fiom 
Stratfield to Bridgeport was made and the new church built in the latter place. 

CIIHER PASTORS. 

Succeeding the Rev. Elijah Waterman, the pastors were the Rev. Franklin V. Vail, from October 
4, 1826, to July 8, 1828, Rev. John Blatchford, son of Rev. Samuel Blatchford, from February 10. 
1830, to July 26, 1836. 

F'ollovving Mr. Blatchford, came the Rev. John Woodbridge, June 14, 1837, who remained seven- 
teen months; Rev. John H. Hunter, from February 27, 1839, to November 13, 1845, Rev. Benjamin 
St. John Page, from February 10, 1847, to August 30, 1853. It was during the pastorate of the Rev. 
Mr. Page that the old church was removed and the present edifice erected. The new church was 
dedicated on Thursday, April 1 1, 1850, and on the Sunda\^ following opened to public worship. The 
Rev. Mr. Page was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph H. Towne, whose pastorate extended from June 13, 
1854, to June 29, 1858. He was followed by the Rev. ilatson Mier Smith, January 5, 1859, to June 6, 
1865. The next pastor was the Rev. George Richards, January 3, 1S66, to August 24, 1870, and the 
next, the Rev. Charles Ray Palmer, whose term extended from August 15, 1872, to the year 1895, 
when he resigned to devote himself to his duties as a member of the managing board of Yale 
University. 

I'.l-CENTENNIAL CELEUKATION 

It was during the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Palmer that the bi-ccntennial celebration of the 
church was held, on June 12 and 13, 1895. The historical discourse of the pastor was one of the nust 
interesting and valuable features in the very elaborate ceremonies of the celebration, and next in 
interest, perhaps, came the roll-call of the original members, answered to in every instance by some 
descendant or representative. The list is as follows: Richard Hubbell, Sr., responded to by Major 
Howard G. Hubbell, descendant in the eight generation; Isaac Wheeler, Sr., responded to by Robert 
E. Wheeler, descendant in the seventh generation; James Bennett, responded to by Clarence H. 
Kelsey; Samuel Beardsley, responded to by Samuel Fayerweather Beardsley, descendant in the eighth 
generation; Samuel Gregory, responded toby the Hon. ^I orris B. Beardsley, representing Samuel Beard- 
sley in his own right and Samuel (Gregory in the right of his grandmother; Matthew Sherman, responded 
to by James Eaton Beach and David Sherman Beach, descendants in the seventh generation; Richard 
Hubbell, Jr., responded to by Captain H. W. Hubbell of the U. S. First Artillery, descendant in the 
sixth generation; David Sherman, responded to by Deacon R. B. Lacey, descended from a daughter 
of Mr. Sherman; John Odell, Jr.. responded to by Henry R. Parrott. chairman of the Society's 
committee, descended from John Odcll through his grandfather's mother. 



i6 THE -'STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

The history of the First Congreg-ational church from the time of its establishment in i6qi to the 
adoption of the new constitution of Connecticut in iSi8, was, practically, the history of the new town 
and of the influences which were largely to make and mark the character and progress of the futiire 
city. To be sure, other religious societies were instituted, and their influence upon the community 
was considerable, but they lacked the power of the secular government, which, while it controlled the 
Congregational church, at the .same time gave it a weight and authority in all things that the others 
could not possess. 

But it had come to pass in the beginning of this centuiy that the minds of men were working 
toward a different policy in governmental matters, and the final divorce of church and state was natural 
and inevitable, and although at first it compelled the re-arrangement of church affairs and their 
adjustment to a new order of things in which they lost support but gained independence, unquestion- 
ably the change was for the best. 

Speaking of this epoch in church history, the Rev. Dr. Palmer, in the historical discourse above 
referred to, said: "It (the pastorate of the Rev. Elijah Waterman) covered a wonderful period. As 
many will remember, it was the time of the Evangelical Revival, the fruitage of which was so exten- 
sive, not alone in Christian homes and churches, but in the formation of great beneflcient organizations, 
such as the American Board, the American Bible Society and others. It saw the beginning of the 
temperance reform in this state, in the action of the General Association of 1812. I need only remind 
you, moreover, that in the midst of it came the second war with Great Britain, a time of peril, of 
hardship, of impoverishment, in which all foundations were shaken, but out of which the country 
emerged without serious disaster. Afterward came the great contest which ended in the disestablish- 
ment of the Congregational churches of Connecticut, the overthrow of the " Standing Order " as the 
phrase of the day put it. This event, in the time of it, seemed to many excellent men, the triumph 
of the gates of hell over the Kingdom, but some of them lived to perceive that it was indeed what Dr. 
Lyman Beecher called it: ' the best thing that ever happened to the Connecticiit churches.' " 

Among other interesting incidents of the bi-centennial celebration was the ideniiflcation of a 
number of historic sites and locations which were of note in the old Stratfield parish. Among these 
were the Nichols' Tavern of revolutionary fame, No. 910 North avenue, where Washington repeatedly 
stopped on his journeys through the place. Opposite that is the Franklin mile stone, " 20 miles to 
New Haven," set by Benjamin Franklin when Colonial Postmaster General before the revolution. 

In April, 1821, during the pastorate of the Rev. Elijah Waterman, the church purchased land 
adjoining its site, on the east, where the chapel now stands, and a building was erected for a conference 
room and academy, and here Mr. Waterman intended to establish a theological school, and did there 
instruct a number of students for the ministry. The parsonage, which is a handsome and commodious 
house located on Golden Hill, No. 84, was bequeathed to the society b}- the late Mrs. Sylvanus 
Sterling. 

On May 4, 1897, the Rev. John DePeu, who came from Norfolk, Conn., succeeded the Rev. I)r. 
Palmer, and was installed pastor of the church. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Frank 
S. Child, of Fairfield, the charge to the pastor was given by the Rev. Joel .S. Ives, of vStratford, the 
charge to the people by the Rev. A. F. Pierce, of Danbury, and the right hand of fellowship by the 
Rev. Frank Russell of the South Congregational church of Bridgeport. 

THF, SOU'lH CHURCH. 

In 1S30, three deacons, thirty-six other men and seventy-eight women were dismissed from the 
First church, at their own request, to form a new church, the mother church giving them one-half the 
church property and funds, and $2,000 toward the erection of a new edifice. These united with others 
in forming the Second Congregational church, and William DeForest, Stephen Hawley and Josiah 
B. Baldwin were chosen deacons. In August, 1830, the Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D.D., was chosen 
pastor, and he remained with the society nearly twenty-three years. In 1853 he was dismissed, and 
at the same time seventy-eight members of the South church were dismissed, at their own request, to 
organize a Presbyterian church, of which Dr. Hewit subsequently became pastor. The Rev. Nathaniel 
Hewit was a man of great ability, and one who stood high in the estimation of the church at large. 

He had been pastor of the Fairfield church, and was a strong champion of the old school. He 
was installed pastor of the South or Second church, December i, 1S30, and under him the church 
prospered. 



I 



THE 



STAXDAIWS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



17 



The second pastor of the South church was the Rev. Asahel L. Brooks, who was installed January 
25, 1854, and dimissed March 11, 1856. The Rev. Benjamin L. Swan was the next pastor, and his 
term continued for two and a half years. The fourth pastor was the Rev. Alexander R. Thompson, 
whose term was from March, 1859, for three years. In i860 the old church edifice was removed and 
a new building begun, which was dedicated in January, 1862, the Rev. Dr. Storrsof Brooklyn preaching 
the dedicatory sermon. The Rev. Francis Lobdell succeeded Mr. Thompson and preached for two 
years. The Rev. E. P. Hammond held special services during this term and added many members 
to the church. In May, 1865, the Rev. Daniel Lord was installed pastor of the chnrch, and in 1869 he 
resigned to accept a pastorate in Chicago. The Rev. Edwin Johnson was the next pastor, he being 
installed in November, 1870. He resigned in 1876, and the Rev. R. G. S. McNeille began December 
4, 1877, and resigned in 1893. 

In 1894 the Rev. Frank Rnssell, D. D., was called to the church, and is the present pastor. The 
deacons for i896-'97 are Edward Sterling, Edward W. Marsh, Thomas Calef, Wilbur A. Smith, L. B. 
Silliman, Emorv F. Strong, George L. Porter, !>. I). Sanford and Gladden Beers. 




CHAPTER V. 

THE I'RESBYTERIAN CHURCH. ITS FOUNDATION AND PROGRESS. THE -METHODIST CHURCH AND ITS 

ESTABLISHMENT IN BRIDGEPORT. BEGINNING AND GROWTH OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

THE CHURCHES OF BRIDGEPORT'S EARI.V HISTORY. 

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

THE First Presbyterian Church was organized October i6, 1S53, and became connected with the 
Presbytery of New York. The Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Hewit was installed in the same year. The 
chnrch was transferred to the Connecticut Presbytery in i860, and in 1870 to the Presbytery of 
Westchester where it still belongs. The following were the original ruling elders : Stephen Hawley, 

Church of the Nativity. 
Park Street Coiiyregational Church. 




First Congregat 
East Washingtoi 



al Church. 

le Baptist Church 



Myrtle Avenue Presbyterian Chur 

Burned 1S74. 
iouth Congregational Church. 



Thomas Hawley, John Brooks, Henry M. Hine and Stiles M. Middlebrook. A chapel located on 
Myrtle avenue and costing about $3,000 was dedicated in February, 1853, and a new church erected 
on the corner of ]SIyrtle avenue and West Liberty street was dedicated in August 1855. The ground 
on which the church was built was the gift of Captain John Brooks and Captain Burr Knapp. The 
Rev. H. G. Hinsdale was installed pastor in i852 as colleague of the Rev. Dr. Hewit, and shortly after 
the latter resigned. In 1877 the Rev. Mr. Hinsdale was dismissed by the presbytery to accept a call 



THE 



STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



19 



at Princeton, X. J., and in February, 1878, the Rev. H. A. Davenport, the present pastor, was 
installed. During the pastorate of IMr. Hinsdale in 1874, the church on Myrtle avenue was destroved 
by tire. The society immediately sold the old site and began rebuilding on the corner of ilvrtle 
avenue and State street, where a handsome stone church, with 
chapel adjoining, was shortly erected at a cost of §94,000. 
Pending the construction of the new church, the church meetings 
were held in the Opera House, corner of Main and State streets. 

ST. John's episcop.al church. 

In 180 1 St. John's Episcopal Church, the Rev. Philo Shelton, 
rector, erected its second edifice on the southeast corner of State 
and Broad streets in the borough of Bridgeport. The rectorship 
of Mr. Shelton continued until 1824, when he resigned. He was 
succeeded by the Rev. Henry R. Judah, who continued with 
the church until the year 1S33, when he was succeeded by 
the Rev. Dr. Gurdon vS. Coit. In 1836 a new church edifice 
was found necessary and a handsome church (the third edifice) 
was built on the southeast corner of Broad and Cannon 
streets. The Rev. Dr. Coit remained as rector of St. John's 
until 1 86 1, when he resigned to accept the chaplaincy of a 
regiment in the Union Army. The Rev. Eaton W. Maxey, D.D. . 
succeeded Dr. Coit, and his term as rector extended from Whit 
Sunday 1867, to Easter 1S85. During his incumbency the fourth 
church edifice of St. John's was erected on the corner of Park and 
Fairfield avenues. The new church is one of the finest in the 

State, and its lo- 




Presbyterian Church. 
Kdifice corner .Slate Street 




cation, although 

at first somewhat far from the business streets, has 
since become much more central and desirable, the 
growth of the city in that direction having been very 
great. The old church was purchased by a syndicate 
and was converted into two halls and used for public 
purposes till the year 1889, when the site was pur- 
chased by the U. S. (Jovernmcnt and the old church 
was torn down to make room for the new post office 
and custom house. The Rev. Dr. Maxey was 
succeeded by the Rev. Edgar A. Enos, and after a 
brief rectorship he was followed by the Rev. J. S. 
Lindsley, whose acceptance of the call was received 
September 27, 1887. Dr. Lindsley was a scholarly 
man and of attractive personality. He was greatly 
liked, but resigned to go to Boston, Mass., on July 9, 
1889. He was followed by the present rector, the 
Rev. W. H. Lewis. 



METHODIC 



EPISCOP.M. CHURCH. 



St. John"; 



ch corner Broad and Ca 
Third Edifice. 



This church is probably the oldest Methodist 
Church in New England, since it traces its beginning 
back to the preaching of the Rev. Jesse Lee, 1789. 
But that was in the Stratfield days and when the 
first Methodist society in Bridgeport met in 1802 it 
was in a wooden block standing upon the corner of Main and State streets. 

In 1822 the Rev. John Newland Maffit, the revivalist, spent a portion of the year in this place and 
regular preaching in the old church was soon afterward discontinued. In this year measures were taken 



THE -STAXDARD-S'- HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. 



for the ei-ection of their first house of worship in this cit}-. The site of the house, which was the 
northeast corner of Broad street and Fairfield avenue, then Beaver street, was fixed at a meeting held 

May 13, 1823. and the house, though 
remaining unfinished for some 
years, was occupied for worship 
the latter part of 1823, ]\Ir. Maffit 
preaching the first sermon in it. 

It was forty by sixty feet in 
size, and cost with the lot about 
,•$3,000. It was destroyed by fire 
in 1849, and the present brick 
edifice was immediately afterward 
erected on the old site. The 
Bridgeport station was organized 
and manned in 1835-36. 

The present church was dedi- 
cated on the 14th of February, 
1850, and on that occasion the 
Rev. Dr. Durbin and the Rev. 
Allen Steele preached the sermons. 
Since its beginning the church 
has prospered and it has numbered 
o , ,. . ^r, u u . tr.,-c several prominent and exception- 

St. John s Church. Present Edifice. ' '^ 

ally able men among its preachers. 
Of these may be named Rev. James :\I. Carroll, Rev. John Dickenson, Rev. Daniel O. Ferris, Rev. 
Charles E. Harris, Rev. Dr. W. W. Clark and the Rev. Dr. Joseph Pullman, the present incumbent. 




KAPTIST CHURCH. 



In 1S35 the known and recognized Baptist 
element within the limits of the city of Bridgeport 
was confined to two females, !Miss Hannah Nichols 
and Mrs. Lydia Sherwood. The Stratfield Baptist 
Church, an off-shoot from the original Church of 
Christ in Stratfield, was organized in 1751, mainly 
under the leadership of Captain John Sherwood, 
gi'andfather of the late Deacon David Sherwood. 
The location was northwest from the present city, 
nearly three miles away. It took fast root in that 
vicinity, in Fairfield Woods, Chestnut Hill, and as 
population .sought the interior, extended to North 
Fairfield, now Easton, and to the southwesterly part 
of Monroe. It had its two meeting houses, known as 
the Stratfield and the North, which latter was located 
about one-half mile westerly of the Stepney depot. 

In 1830 Rev. James H. Linsley was pastor of 
the Stratfield church and yet resided in Stratford 
village. The opportune time came, when in 1835, 
the St. John's Episcopal Church offered their edifice 
on the corner of State and Broad streets for sale. 
Mr. Linsley lost no time in collecting the necessary 
funds, himself being the leading contributor. 

The price of the property was $3,650 and $3,000 was collected and paid over to St. John's Society. 
The first Baptist society was organized July 24, 1837, composed of six members, Benjamin Wakeman, 
Raymond Whitney, Roswell Whitney, Bennett Whitney and two others whose names are not known" 




^c^^j^^^m^ 



Old Baptist Church, State and Broad Stree 



THE •• STA.\I)AR[>-S'- HISTORY OF BRH>GEl'ORT. 



1S37, with thirtv-nine members; eleven males and twenty- 



The church was constituted September 
eight females. 

The Rev. Joseph Eaton, of Boston, was the first settled minister (183S), 
church increased to 136 members. He was 
succeeded in 1840 by the Rev. Daniel Harwington, 
and he was followed in 1842 by the Rev. William 
vSmith, of Camden, N. J. He was succeeded by 
the Rev. William Reid in 1846, and after several 
ineffectual trials of other ministers, in November, 
1857, the Rev. J. L. Hodge, D.D., followed Mr. 
Reid and remained with the church for three 
vears. Under him the old church was replaced 
by a fine new edifice and considerable progress 
was made. Before the coming of Dr. Hodge the 
" Second Baptist Church " had been formed which 
was a .serious drawback upon the old church. Dr. 
Hodge labored hard to unite the churches but in 
1S60 he gave up, and a call w'as extended to the 
Rev. Dr. A. McGregor Hopper. 

He began his work in March, 1861, and was 
successful in a practical re-union of the churches, 
the second church disbanding and its members 
generally returning to the old church. Dr. 
Hopper remained until 1877, and was succeeded 
by the Rev. ^M. H. Pogson, who remained until 
1884, when he gave place to the Rev. W. V. 
Garner. The Rev. C. C. Luther succeeded 
Mr. Garner, his term of service being from 
October i, 1891, to November i, 1893, when he 
was followed by the present pastor, the Rev. G. 
W. Nicholson. The old church was sold in 1892 



and under him the 




1st Baptist Church. 



and a new site was purchased at the corner of 



Washington and West aventies, where a very beautiful 




tone church was erected, the congregation 
worshipping in a temporary edifice on 
West avenue in the meantime. 

The new church was dedicated 
< )ctober 28, 1894, at which time the 
Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Smith, author of 
" America " was present and took part 
in the services. The church cele- 
brated its semi-centennial anniversary 
September 25, 1SS7, in the okl cliurch 
on State street. 



CHURCHES Of 1835. 

Of the above churches the Second 
Congregational was replaced by the 
present structure in 1S6: 62 ; the vSt. 
lohn's Episcopal Church was sold to 
the Baptists in 1835, and occupied by 
them till about the year 1859-60, when 
it was replaced by a substantial brick 
structure. The First Congregational 
Church was the third edifice of that 
Society replaced by the present structure in 1850. The Methodist Church was the first in the city 
and was destroyed by fire in 1849, wlicn upon the same sight the present church was erected. 



d Gilbert Streets 



22 THE •■ STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

The two African Metliodist Episcopal Churches on Broad street are among the older ecclesiastical 
organizations. The Bethel Church was built in 1S35 and the Zion Church in 1843. They maintain 
regular services and are well supported. These are, with the exception of the Stillvvell Methodist 
Church, organized in 1821-22, and possibly some others whose existence was brief, all the churches 
belonging to the early history of the town, and they were the progenitors of many others which 
arose in all directions, as the city put on its modern manners with its later progress and prosperity. 





I A. yi. E. L'hurch. Broad Street. 



Bethel A. .M. E. Church 
Broad Street. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE CHL'RCHES OF TO-l)AV. CHRIST KPISCOPAL, TRINITY AND Sr. HAUL"s THE UXIVERSALIST CHURCH. 

THE CONGREOATIONAL, METHODIST, I;AI>TIST AND CATHOLIC CHURCHES. A VIEW OF ALL. 

THE MORE MODERN CHURCHES. 

'T'Hl-^ first of the more modern of the churches, founded after 1840, was Christ Church, Episcopal. 
^ On August 16, 1S50, the parish organized by the election of the following officers: Senior 
Warden, Charles Bostwick ; Junior Warden, Russell Tomlinson; Vestry, Charles B. Ferguson, 
Chauncey M. Hatch, Charles ^I. Booth, Samuel Stratton, Aaron T. Beardsley. Philip B. Segee; 
Treasurer, Henry vShelton; Clerk, John S. Smith. 

The first rector was the Rev. J. Howard Smith, who was called November 7, 1850, and who was 
rector until April, 1854. During this time the land was bought for the present church on Courtland 







St. Paul's Churcli. 



1 ,i>t .Meth.nlist Church. 



Universalist Church. 



street, the corner stone of which was laid on Good Friday, April 9, 1852. The church edifice was 
completed in 1853, and was consecrated by Bishop Thomas Church Brownell, on the 21st day of April 
of that year. It is built of brown .stone and co,st about S32,o°o- The rectors succeeding Mr. Smith 
have been as follows: Rev. Wm. Preston, 1S54-1856; Rev. George E. Thrall, 1856-1859; Rev. L. W. 
Bancroft, 1860-1861; Rev. Henry M. Stewart, 1S61-1863; Rev. John Falkner-Blake, (subsequently 
lohn Blake Falkner), 1863-1870; Rev. John J. Harrison, April 12, 1S70 to November 28, 1870; 



24 THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

Rev. N. L. Brig-gs, 1871-1875; Rev. Dr. H. N. Power.s, 1875-1885; Rev. Beverly E. Warner, 1885- 
1893, and Rev. Herbert D. Cone, present rector. The Wardens have been: Charles Bostwick, S. B 
Ferguson, Russell Tomlinson, P. H. Skidmore, S. S. Clapp, Clapp Spooner, L. W. Clark, Daniel 
Hatch, George C. Waldo, Wm. H. Noble, George Hunger, L. N. Van Keuren, P. B. Segee. The 
chapel in the rear of the church was erected in 1867 at a cost of about $9,000. 

The Uxiversalist Church, or "Church of the Redeemer" was organized about the year 1850. 
In the city records for March of that year, the Chief Engineer reports the conduct of the members of 
the fire department at "the burning of the Universalist Church on Cannon St., the previous evening" 
(March 28). From this it appears that the Society worshipped in some structure on that street previous 
to the erection of the handsome brown stone church on Fairfield avenue, which is its sanctuary, and 
which was dedicated in the latter part of the year 185 1. P. T. Barnura was an active member of 
this church during his life and remembered it generously in his will. He was one of the trustees of 
the church. Among the pastors have been Rev. Adin Ballon. Rev. Olympia Brown-Willis, Rev. John 
Lyon, Rev. L. B. Fisher, Rev. J. X. Emery. The present pastor is Rev. F. A. Dillingham. 

The Church of the N.ATivrrv is a picturesque .stone church located on Sylvan avenue and Carson 
street. It was built chiefly by the Rev. E. Ferris Bishop, of Bridgeport, assisted by Joseph Richard- 
son, of North Bridgeport. It was started as a mission school for St. John's Church and was main- 
tained at first by that parish. The church was organized June 4, 1856, by E. F. Bishop, Joseph 
Richardson, Eli Thompson, Ira Gregory, John Hurd, William M. Hubbell and Henry M. Sherman, 
all from St. John's Church. The seats were free and the service choral. Mr. Bishop was ordained 
priest September 22, 1863, by Assistant Bishop John Williams, and was then chosen rector, and 
officiated at the chtirch frequently till the time of his death. Of late years the church has been in 
charge of the rectors of St. Luke's. 

St. Paul's Episcop.^l Church (East Bridgeport) was organized at the residence of General 
William H. Noble, on Stratford avenue, June 4, 1858, at which time the Rev. Gurdon S. Coit, D.D., 
of St. John's Church, was chosen rector. Meetings of the Sunday school were held in the coal office 
of D. W. Thompson, near the center bridge, and subsequently over a store upon Crescent avenue. 
The Rev. Dr. N. S. Richardson was the first rector of the parish, his term beginning Januarj-, 1868. 
The corner stone of the handsome church building, upon Kossuth street, fronting Washington Park, 
was laid by Bishop Willigms, October 6, 1868, and the church was dedicated and occupied for worship 
July 29. 1869, and was consecrated in 1880. Its cost was about $30,000. Dr. Richardson was 
succeeded by Rev. M. Clark, the Rev. James O. Drumm. Rev. Mildridge Walker, and the latter by 
the present incumbent. Rev. H. M. Sherman. 

TRiNrrv Church was an offshoot of vSt. John's, and was organized June i, 1863. Its first service 
was held in a hall over the New York and New Haven Railroad depot, June 14, 1863. The corner 
stone of the present edifice, on the corner of Fairfield avenue and Broad street, was laid November 
2d of the same year. The church is built of brown stone from the Portland quarries, and has a 
seating capacity of about 600. It was opened for public worship on Sunday, July 3, 1864, and was 
consecrated by the Right Rev. John Williams, assistant Bishop of Connecticut, on Wednesday, 
November 2, 1864. The Rev. Sylvester Clarke was its first rector. He was succeeded by the present 
rector, the Rev. N. L. Booth, Dr. Clarke accepting a professorship in the Berkley Divinity School at 
Middletown, Conn. The Wardens of Trinity have been Jaratt Morford, Ira Gregory, E. B. Goodsell, 
D. N. Morgan, R. E. DeForest and George C. Edwards. 

Trinity Memori.-\l Church (West Stratford) was a mission of Trinity Church and a memorial of 
the Rev. Dr. Gurdon S. Coit. It was opened for worship on Whit Sunday, May 19, 1872. In 18S7 the 
Rev. Charles Pardee was appointed rector of the Coit Memorial Chapel and of the Church of the 
Nativity at North Bridgeport. Later on the chapel was given up and the parish became St. Luke's 
with a new church on Stratford avenue, the old edifice having been sold. 

St. Luke's Church (Stratford avenue) was organized in 1873. It succeeded to the field of the 
Coit Memorial Chapel which was converted into a dwelling a few years since. The location on Strat- 
ford avenue was more desirable and answered better the increasing wants of the parish. Its rectors 
have been the Rev. Benjamin J. Davis, who had charge, at first, of both St. Luke's and the Coit 



THE -STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRHXUil'ORT. 25 

Memorial Chapel. The Rev. A. P. Chapman followed and he was succeeded by the present rector, 
Rev. John W. (Jill, under whose active administration the parish has prospered. Mr. Gill has charge 
(if St. Luke's and also the Church of the Nativity at North Bridgeport. 

St. JohnV Wk.st End Ch.-\i>ki,, (>&- State street (St. Agnes) is a mission in charge of the Rev. Geo. 
A. Robson. 

Sr. Mary's Bv The Sk.^ is a small Episcopal church in Black Rock, originally in charge of St. 
John's, but now in private hands. It is opened during the summer season. 

TiiK Park Street CoN(;rei;..\tion.\l Church was organi;;ed in iS6iS, wiili thirtv-nine members, 
twenty-five of whom were dismissed for the purpose from the North Church. Its first pastor was the 
Rev. John G. Davenport, who was ordained July i, 1868. Until 1871 services were held in Bethesda 
Mission Chapel on East Washington avenue, but in that year the present church edifice was dedicated 
October 17. It cost about $25,000. The church is a very vigorous offshoot of the old parent church. 

In 1 88 1 Mr. Davenport accepted a call to Waterbury, and was succeeded by the Rev. (ieorge S. 
Thrall in October of that year. Mr. Thrall labored acceptably for three years and was followed, March 
26, 1884, by the Rev. Frederick E. Hopkins. In 1885 the church building was materially enlarged 
and improved. Mr. Hopkins was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. H. C. Hovey, and he by the present 
pastor, the Rev. Edward Grier Fullerton, Ph.D. 

Oi.ivEr Church was the outgrowth of a Sunday school mission of the First Church at Xo. 1 14 North 
Washington avenue, and afterwards at Olivet Hall, corner of Grand street. The present Olivet Con- 
gregational church was organized November 16, 1870, and the Rev. De Forest B. Dodge was ordained 
pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. S. Hopkins Emory, (1872): R. Rev. Allen Clark, (1874); Rev- 
John S. Wilson, (1879); Rev. S. D. Gaylord, (1882) and the Rev. 1-:. K. Holden, (1885), the present 
pastor. Mr. Holden has proved an e.xcellent pastor and manager, and under his ministration the 
church has grown much. It has a handsome edifice on the corner of North avenue and IMain street, 
and it has secured tlie co-operation of many strong and able friends. It is a power in the community 
for good. 

The West End Church (Colorado avenue) was first a Sunday school of the Presbyterian church 
(1884), but it became (1885) a branch of the Sunday school of the First Congregational church, and 
was organized into a church. Its pastors have been the Rev. George Foster Prentiss, the Rev. Henry 
Ketcham and the present incumbent, Rev. C. F. Stimson. 

'1'he Kino's Huvhwav Chapel (Congregational) is located at No. 5S0 Pembroke street, and was 
organized June 28, 1894. It is a nourishing little church and its pastoris the Rev. Wilson R. Stewart. 

The Black Rock Conoreca itonai. Church is one of the older churches, having been organized 
in 1849. It was not of Bridgeport growth, but was a Fairfield organization, till Black Rock was 
annexed to the city in 1870. It is a flourishing church with a large membership, and the Rev. H. C. 
WoodrulT is jjastor. 

The Washlni; iiiN Park IM. E. Church, No. 102 Barnum avenue, was organized in 1854. The 
original edifice was erected and occupied in 1854, and in 1867 it was enlarged and improved. Its 
pastors have been Rev. S. H. Smith, Rev. E. J. Searles, Rev. Charles S. Wing, Rev. Thos. Stevenson, 
Rev. W. W. Bowdish, Rev. A. C. PIggleston, Rev. I. M. Foster, Rev. George. L. Thompson, Rev. 
Saul ( ). Curtice and Rev. Ervin Thorp, the present incumbent. This church celebrated its fortieth 
anniversary on Mav 27, 1S94, with appropriate services. 

The Su.nlmekeield M. E. Church, No. 473 Barnum avenue, was organized April, 1872. Among 
its pastors have been Rev. George A. Parkington, Rev. A. P. Chapman, Rev. L. W. Abbott, Rev 
E. L. Bray, Rev. George Filmer, Rev. O. F. Bartholo, Rev. \V. S. :Manship, Rev. D. O. Ferris and the 
present pastor, the Rev. Royal W. Raymond. 

Grace M. E. Church, corner Fairfield and Clinton avenues, was established August 6, 1890. It 
has had the services of the Rev. E. A. Noble and the Rev. Addis Ab^ro, its present pastor. 

The Newiteld M. E. Church, No. 413 Stratford avenue, was organized 1872. Among its pastors 
have been Rev. R. S. Eldridge, Rev. F. M. Hallock, Rev. S. A. Sands. The Rev. Samuel Gurney is 
the present pastor. 



26 



THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH>GEPORT. 



The North AIain St. M. E. Church, or "Tabernacle" was founded July, 1873. In the following 
year the church on N. Main street, at the foot of Frank street, was opened and the Rev. A. B. Sanford 
appointed pastor. His successors have been Rev. S. H. Smith. Rev. David Osborn, Rev. J. R. 
Dumble, Rev. O. F. Tree and others. The present pastor (1897) is Rev. Alvin P. Knell. 

Other Methodist Episcopal churches are: The First Swedish M. E. Church, West Liberty street; 
organized in 1883, the German M. E. Church, East Main street, the Zion A. M. E. Church, the 
Bethel A. M. E. Church, and the Point Union Mission and Sunday school. No. 146 East Main street. 

The East Washington Avenue Baptist Church is an offshoot of the old First Baptist Church. It 
is located in what was once the Bethesda Mission Sunday school building, which fronts upon 
Washington Park. The church was organized in 1874 with forty-seven members, and the Rev. C. W. 
Ray was its first pastor. It thoroughly remodeled the mission building and made a very satisfactor}^ 
church of it, at a cost of about $14,000. The Rev. W. M. IngersoU and the Rev. H. W. Pinkham were 
among its pastors, and Rev. George D. Reid is the present incumbent. 

Other Baptist churches are the Immanuel Baptist Church, Lafayette street, organized in 1888, 
pastor Rev. H. A. Chapman. 

The Messiah Baptist Church, John street, organized 1SS8. Pastor Rev. W. N. ^lorton. 

The German Baptist Church, No. 38 Burroughs street. Rev. Henri Galen pastor. 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 

The growth of Catholicity in Bridgeport presents an interesting and instructive stud_v. Controlling 
elements in the population that no other power could effectively reach, the Roman Catholic Church 

has exercised a great influence upon the commu- 
nity in the last forty years, and has been a power 
for morality, temperance and good order. 

The earliest date when mass is known to have 
been celebrated was 1830, by Father Fitton, who 
made regular visits until 1832, when Father Mc- 
Dermott was stationed at New Haven, and relieved 
him. In 1837 Father McDermott was succeeded 
by Father Smyth, who, in 1841, purchased a site 
for a church which was dedicated under the title 
of St. James the Apostle, on July 24, 1843; the 
congregation at that time numbering about 300. 
The church was located corner of Arch street 
and Washington avenue, and was built of brick. 
In November following, the Rev. Michael Lynch 
was placed in charge of the congregation, and the 
missions of Derby and Norwalk were included in 
the parish. 

sr. Augustine's. 
In the year 1852 Bishop O'Reilly appointed the 
Rev. Thomas J. Synott pastor of St. James'. Soon 
after his arrival he commenced to build the Church 
of St. Mary, on Crescent avenue, East Bridgeport, 
and finished it the following year. In the same 
year he began St. Thomas' Church in Fairfield and 
finished it in 1854. The brick church on Washing- 
ton avenue having become too small, the founda- 
tion for the present St. Augustine's Church was 
laid August 28, 1866, and it was dedicated on St. Patrick's Day, 1868, Rt. Rev. Bishop McFarland 
officiating. The convent school in connection with St. Augustine's parish was completed in 1881. 
Father Synott's pastorship continued for about thirty-two years, and terminated only with his death in 1 8S4. 




s Chinch, R. 
Convent in 



C, Washington Avenue. 



THE -STAXDARfrS- HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. 



-'7 



Father Michael F. Kelly was appointed pastor in 1884 and died in 1SS8, when the Rev. D. J. Cremin, 
the present pastor, succeeded. The present membership of St. Augustine's parish is probably between 
5,000 and 6,000 souls. The Rev. Father Cremin is assisted by Rev. Father McNerrey and the Rev. 
Father Fitzsimmons. 

ST. Mary's. 

St, Mary's Church was the first offshoot from St. James' (now vSt. Augustine's) parish and the old 
church edifice, a modest frame building erected by Rev. Father Synott, in 1S54, still stands on the 
original site. The first regularly stationed pastor was the Rev. Peter A. Smith, installed in April, 
1857, who built the parsonage and continued pastor until February 10, 1862. The Rev. Father John 
F. Rogers, the present pastor, purchased the building site on Pembroke street, where the church now 
stands. Work on the new edifice was commenced in June, 1874, and the corner stone was laid May 22, 
1875, by the Very Rev. James Hughes, V. G. , and dedicated by Bishop Galbery, October 26, 1877. 
The old edifice was remodeled into a parochial school under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy. The 
Rev. Father Rogers is assisted b\- the Rev. F. Dunnigan and the Rev. R. Carroll. 

SACKED HEART. 

The Church of the Sacred Heart, set oft" from St. Augustine's parish in 1883, was begun in 1SS4. 
when the corner stone was laid. The church was dedicated in 1886 (Sunday, July 4). The church 
edifice is one of the finest in this diocese, and was erected by the Rev. D. J. Cremin, now of vSt. 
Augustine's. Under the care of the present pastor, the Rev. J. C. O'Brien, the parish has grown and 
prospered and has added a new parsonage, a home for the Sisters of Mercy, and has now erected a 
new convent and parochial school building on 
Park and South avenues, and a year ago erected 
in the West End, Sacred Heart Chapel. Father 
O'Brien's assistants are the Revs. A. F. Harty, C. 
Leddy, and I). Hurley. 

ST. Joseph's. 
St. Joseph's German church was organized in 
1874. The present church building on Madison 
avenue was commenced in 1877 and completed in 
1878, the Rev. Joseph Schaele, of New Haven, 
then being its pastor. The Rev. Theodore J. 
Ariens is the present pastor. The dedicatory ser- 
vice at St. Joseph's church was the occasion of the 
first official visit to Bridgeport after his consecra- 
tion as Bi.shop of the diocese, of the Rt. Rev. 
liishop ^IcMahon, 

>|-. Patrick's. 

St. Patrick's constitutes the youngest of the 
Catholic parishes of the city, and was formed from 
St. Augustine's, in May, 18S9. The Rev. James 
B. Nihil!, formerly assistant to the Rev. Father 
Lynch, of Danbury, is the pastor. On August 3, 
1890, less than fifteen months from date of the 
parish's formation, was laid the corner stone of 
the St. Patrick's Church, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop 

McMahon, in the presence of 4,000 people. It st. Mary-s church, r. c. Pemb.-, 

will be of Gothic architecture, dimension 64x125 

feet, with spire 175 feet in height, of which 80 feet will be stone work; the ceilings 
and the windows will be large size stained glass, and the three altars will be of marble. 

St. John's Slavonian Chtrch is situated in the northerly part of East Bridgeport, 
Jane street. 




1 be groined 
Brooks and 



THE 



STAXDARD-S" HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. 



St. AxiHON'v's French Church is on Colorado avenue, and the Italian Congregation meets every 
Sunday in the old St. Mary's Church. 

Besides those already named, there are in 
Bridgeport four Lutheran churches: The First 
(j-erman Evangelical Lutheran Church, No. 164 
Noble avenue, organized in 1892; the German 
Lutheran SSt. Paulus Church, No, 20 Harriet 
street (1S93); the Swedish Lutheran Salem 
Church, No. 399 Park avenue, and Our Saviour's 
Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, organized 
1893. 

There are also St. Nicholaus Russian 
Orthodo.x Church (Greek Catholic) ; the German 
Reformed Church, Congress street, Pastor Rev. 
Casper Brunner. (This is a comparatively old 
church, having been organized in i858); the 
C(jngregation Benai Israel (Jewish) ; the Berean 
Church (organized 1890), Pastor Rev. B. D. 
Remington; the Church of Christ, No. 18 Beach 
street, Charles Abercrombie, Elder; the City Mission, No. 378 Water street, organized 1890, pastor in 
charge. Rev. W. D. Fowler. The Advent Christian Church, No. 197 Barnum avenue, corner Brooks 
street, was organized November 20, 1S49. Its pastor is the Rev. J. W. Davis. 




chial Scliool Bu-lding. I'ark Av 




Hiiam Campbell. C. F. Bamberg. J. H. Long. 

\Vm. H. -Murphy. Frederick P. Beardsley (Chief). T. R. Congon. 

G. F. Beardsley. E. M. Wilson. 

C. B. Tuttle. D. E. Johnsim, E. J. Madden. C. E. Palmer. 



OF"F~IOEF4S OK KIRE OEPA-KTMENT OK l«er 



CHAPTER VII. 

IHK FIKSr IIUK K.\(U\h MARKS AN EPOCH. SO.ME OLD FIRES. THE MEN OF THE OLD TIME FIRE LOMI'AXIES. 

THE OREAF FIRE OF 1S45. A PERSONAL NARRATIVE. FlIE DEPAKFMEXT OF TO-DAV. 

NOTES ON THE OLD FIRE HOUSES, HATS AND SOME OTHER IllINOS. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT, FIRES, ETC. 

\Jt R. FRAXKLIX SHERWOOD begins his exhaustive compilation of borough, town and city data 
entitled " Bridgeport As It Has Been," with the purchase of the first fire engine, as marking a 
distinctive epoch in the history of Newfield village. In September, 1796, a subscription was taken up 
among the inh.ibitants of the vi.lage for the purpo.se of purchasing a fire engine, and in the following 
May (1797) a petition was sent to the General Assembly asking for the right to constitute a fire 
company to " conduct and run the sam_-," and it is probable that the engine was bought at some time 
between those two dates. The reply made to this petition by the General Assembly was not 
satisfactory, but in answer to another petition, sent in 1798, the Assembly seems to have made a 
better arrangement, and after defining the limits of the village for the first time, the people within 
those limits are empowered to constitute a fire company of twenty-five persons to "work and conduct 
the fire engine" and to enlist twelve of the company from the military company who shall be exempt 
from ordinary military duly "so long as they do actually .serve in the said fire company." 

From the specimens preserved as curiosities at the present time, we know that the fire engines 
of one hundred years ago were very primitive and ineffectual affairs and it was not for many years 
after the purchase of this firs: engine that Bridgeport had a machine that was really valuable. For a 
long period the handbucket brigade assi-ted the fire company. Every good citizen and householder 
kept one or more leather fire buckets in his house, and, equipped with such an extinguisher, he was 
expected to turn out at the call of "fire," and, forming a line with others from the nearest well, 
cistern or brook, pass water up to the er.gine wliich was thus filled and then the water was pumped 
upon the fire. 

The first record of a serious fire in Bridgeport is found in the columns of the Republican Farmer, 
published by Stiles Nichols & Son, in the issue for February 9, 1815, and reads as follows: 

"Fire — On Sunday morning last about 10 o'clock, the new blo^k of buildings in the borough was 
discovered to be on fire. Its progress seemed to threaten for a considerable time the destruction of 
the whole block together with all the buildings near it, but the spirited exertions of the inhabitants, 
favored by a full tide, the calmness of the morning, and the engine, extinguished it. The cairse of 
the fire, it is said, was the putting of ashes into a wooden dish, the preceding evening and leaving 
them in the shop of Messrs. Kirtland cV- Wordin, Merchant Tailors, who were the principal sufferers 
— estimated about two thousand dollars. During the rage of the fire an explosion took place by a 
small quantity of powder taking fire, which burnt a few people near it, but we are happy to say 
without material injury. Some considerable damage was done to the apothecary store of Thomas C. 
Wordin " 

Following this fire there were for several years futile efforts made to raise by subscription, 
assessment and tax, the money to purcha.se another fire engine. The thing was ordered to be done 
at meetings of the Warden and Burgesses, but until Januar}', 1819, it did not become an accomplished 
fact. At that time the money was raised by subscription and an engine (No. 2) was purchased, which 
engine is occasionally referred to in the borough records as "No. 16," for reasons unknown. 

In March, 1S2S, there occurred another fire, which broke out in the cooper shop of Ashbel 
Olnistead, which was consumed with its contents, and the fire extending through burned six stores 
and dwellings on Bank and State streets, entailing a loss of §6,000. 

It was customary for the Court of Burgesses to annually appoint members to fill out or constitute 



3° 



THE "STAXDARLrS- HISTORY OF BRWGEI'ORT. 



the two fire companies, and it appears to have been " turn and turn about " among the able bodied 
men of the place. A man would be on one company in one year and on the other in the next year, 
and there was evidently no respect of persons in the Burgesses' court. The following appointments 
for 1S23-24 will show the manner of men of which the old fire companies were made. 

APPOINTMENTS FOR 1823-24. 
ENGINE NO. I. 

Ashbel Olmstead, Charles De Forest, David Hiibbell, Jr., Daniel Fayerweather, David Sterling, 
Jr., Enos Bussey, Eleazer Lacey, Elmer Wordin, Ezra Gregory, Jr., Everad Benjamin, George 
Atwell, George W. Sterling, George Kippen, George W. Lewis, Gideon Thompson, Nathaniel L. 
Skinner, Hanford Lyon, Henry Booth, Henry Shelton, Justus Allen, Josiah Hawley, Mim.son Hawley, 
Norman Northrop, Oswal Backus, Philo Hurd, Paddock Crosby, Philo Birch, Seth B. Jones, Thomas 
Waterman, Thomas Hawley and William H. Peet. 

ENGINE NO. 2. 

John B. Pool, Samuel Hawley, Jr., Sylvanus Sterling, Henr}' Coty, Ziba Northrop, John 
Beardsley, Ira Peck, Isaac Sherman, Jr., Levi vSherman, Benj. S. Smith, Lyman Baldwin, Lemuel 
Hubbell, Caleb Tomlinson, Fitch Taylor, Edward Beard, William Porter, Andrew Curtis, Stephen 
Hull, Jr., William Hanford, Asa Hubbell, Ephraim Knap, Joseph Hawley, Eben Fairchild, Nichols 
Northrop, David B. Nichols, Everat Lewis, John C. Shelton, Charles B. Hiibbell, William Morehouse, 
Isaac Burroughs, Albert Shephard, Sej'mour Whiting, Levi Young, Stephen Hawley, George Hawley, 

Benjamin Wheeler, David P. Minot, Nathan Curtis, David Roberts, Burr Perry, Perry, 

Jabez Norman, Benjamin D. Lindsley, Benjamin Wheeler, Jr., Levi Lyon, Ephenitus Curtis and 
Abel Baldwin. 

In the 3-ear 1S34 another fire company was chartered in Bridgeport, and in 1S40 the Phoenix Fire 
Company No. 4 and the Pequonnock Fire Company of North Bridgeport were constituted. In 1S45 
the Bridgeport Hose Company was organized. In this year occurred the most serious conflagration, 
considering the size of the place, that Bridgeport has ever experienced. 

THE FIRE OF 1S45. 

On December 12, 1845, at midnight, a fire broke out in a wooden building occupied by George 
Wells as an oyster saloon. It was located on Bank street, and like nearly all the buildings about it, 
was of wood and very inflammable. The fire burned down to Water street, and then up and down 
Water street, out on to the dock, sweeping everything before it. It burned through to State street 
but did not come into Main street. The firemen were handicapped by the low tide, and the fire had 
everything its own way for a while. Finally, the tide came in and more water was available, and 
some buildings were also pulled down, which helped to stop the spread of the fire. 

The following diagram will serve to ehicidate the account of the fire and show how extensive it 

was. The building marked "A" on the diagram 
was the saloon of Mr. Wells, the starting point of 
the fire. " Y " marks the building owned by Daniel 
Hatch, pulled down on the north, checking the 
flames in that direction. " \" " wa^ near the dock 
and water was handy and thus the fire was over- 
come. 

An account in the Farmer, of that time, says: 
"The contest ended about 4 o'clock. The streets 
outside the burned district were filled with goods and 
furniture. These had in many instances been moved 
but not saved. The lack of water enabled the fire 
to obtain its great headway and most of the damage 
'^^^ ' — °^ ^ ",„, .i.;; i:"'.'"'!:'^:;„;,, ,7,.^ '- "- ~-' — -^^ uf^ on Water street was done while waiting for the tide 

to rise." 
The number of buildings destroyed was forty-nine, and all were of wood. Some forty families 
were burned out. 




LjCuLipP 






THE -STASDARirS- HISTORY OF BRWGHI'ORT. 31 

The amount of loss was $150,000 as estimated, upon which there was an insurance of §8c,ooo. 
Among the goods destroyed were 800 barrels of flour, 100 barrels of mackerel and large quantities of 
tea, coffee, sugar, molasses, etc. 

The Common Council held a meeting on the 12th and passed a resolution of thanks to the tire 
department for their efficient services. A public meeting was held on the next evening, and a 
committee, composed of Alexander Hamilton, Edwin Porter, Isaac M. Conklin, Daniel Thatcher, 
V. D. Ellsworth, Ira B. Wheeler, Joseph Cook and Eliakim Hough was appointed " to inquire into 
the condition of the suffering poor in consequence of the late fire," and authorized to collect and 
disburse subscriptions, according to their best judgment to those who were needy. 



A PERSON.XL NAKKATIVE. 

Mr. (5eorge A. Sanford, of Redding, Conn., was in 1S45 finishing his apprenticeship with Jacob 
Mott, carriage maker in Bridgeport, and he boarded on ]^Iain street in a house just below Parker & 
Davis' pre.sent store. He occupied a room in the 
rear of the house, from which he could plainly see 
the oyster saloon on Bank street, kept by George 
A. Wells, in which the fire started. Mr. Sanford 
states that his landlady, Mrs. Middlebrook, called 
to him about one o'clock on the night of December 
12 saying: "George Wells is all afire." 

Mr. Sanford dressed immediately and was one 
of the first to reach the fire. It had started in a 
lot of shavings in the cellar, kept to use in roasting 
oysters, and it quickly burst through the floor and 
enveloped the structure. " Then," says Mr. San- 
ford, "every one thought the fire must run into 
Main street. I went back to the house, packed 
my things and then went across the street to the 
.Sterling House stables, and had my horse harnessed 
ready to move if the fire spread into Main street. 
Many others were making similar preparations. 

" I went back to the fire and worked a spell on 
an engine as volunteer. William Hall came to me 
and asked me to open his grocery store, near 
Thomas Hawley & Co.'s store, and to give to all, 
crackers and cheese and cigars. He could not do 
this as he belonged to one of the engine companies. 
I did so and there were a large number of boilers 
of coffee brought in by the ladies. One or two 
other stores were opened in a like manner. There 
were three or four hand engines in town, and all 

the buildings were of wood so that the fire spread rapidly. The tide was out and the pipes from the 
engines kept filling with mud as they took water from the river. The fire ran into Water street and 
soon spread on both sides of the street. It was finally stopped from going north on the west side by 
pulling down a small wooden building just below Thomas Hawley & Co.'s. It ran down both sides of 
Water street below State, burning what was called " the Old Flat Iron," corner of Water and State 
streets, that had been an eyesore to Bridgeport people for a long time. It was owned by a man by the 
name of Wheeler, and how the boys did cheer when they saw it in flames. It was thought at one 
time that the whole business part of the city was doomed, but the fire was gotten under control finally. 

"A West India brig had come in a few days before, loaded with salt and molasses and had 
unloaded at the stores on the dock. They were all burned and the molasses ran into the street and 
all over the dock where the brig was lying, and she took fire several times, it being low tide, before 
she could be floated across the river. A lumber yard took fire and the lumber was thrown off the 
dock. J. C. Blackman was chief engineer of the fire department at that time. I only remember one 




Amcricus Huse No. 6. 
Decorated for her last par 



32 



THE ••STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



man who is still doing business who was there at that time, and that is Samuel W. Baldwin, of 
Thomas Hawley & Co.'s, who kept a book and news store on Wall street. I well remember that all 
the frei'.^ht for Albany and Troy came that winter by boat to Bridgeport and then up the 
Housatonic road. 

"Mr. L. Fairchild kept the Sterling House on Main street and Mr. 
Hinman the City Hotel on Wall street, the two leading hotels at that 
time. I recall that many remarked the next day that the fire was "the 
liest thing that ever happened to Bridgeport," and I think it was so, as 
nearl}' all the buildings burned were old and delapidated." 




lell Tower. 
John Street. 



.\ I'-AID DEI'.ARTMEXT. 

Up to 1847 the volunteer system had prevailed in the fire depart- 

mtnt with no effective organization. In that year Mr. R. B. Lacey 

drafted a plan for a re-organized department which was adopted and a 

lioard of engineers was constituted which had charge of the several 

companies and this system prevailed up to the date of the organization 

of a paid department in 1872. 

In January, 1864, the steam fire engine, D. H. Sterling, previously contracted for, was received 

and paid for, the cost being $3,500, but with horses, house, etc., $11,746.24, and this was followed by 

the procuring of two others, Protector No. 2 and Excelsior No. 5, in 1865. 

In 1867-68 the fire department, still a mixture of the old and new, was constituted as follows: 

OFFICERS. 

Chief Engiiicc-r, Henry T. Shelton; Assistants, George F. Humiston, John Sherman, .S. C. 
Nicker.son, Peter Ring, Henry Osborn, John ]\I. Wilson, Jr.; Sirrctir?y, Henry Osborn; Treasurer, 
S. C. Nickerson. 

STE.^MER D. H. STERI.IN(; NO. I. 

George W. (yriswold, Jr., Foreman ; E. S. Jennings, Henry Coffin, Assistants. 

STK.\.MER PKOTHCIOR N(.). 2. 

W. H. Bradley, Foreman ; Isaac W. Nelson, Theron 
Hills, Assistants. 

FOUNTAIN HOSE CO. NO. 3. 

Conrad ^liller, Foreman ; Joseph Cook, Albert De 
Forest, Assistants. 

HOtlK .\N1) L.4])DKR CO. NO. 4. 

Hector McKenzic, Foreman; Charles A. H. Bright, 
John Mandcville, Assistants. 



SrKA.MER EXCELSIOR NO. 5. 

E. M. French, Forenian ; C. A. Gould, 
ridge. Assistants. 



_)hn H. Part- 



AMERICUS HOSE CO. NO. 6. 

W. Howard Barnum, Foreman ; Charles W. Gleason, 
Joseph B. King, Assistants. 

WHEELER & WILSON STEA.MER SEA.MSTRESS. 

(Independent.) 
N. Wheeler, Chief Engineer ; W. H. Vqi-yv, Assistant 
Engineer; F. Hurd, Secretary &n<\ Treasurer ; (). E. Buck- 
minster, Foreman: J. J. Medcraft, M. Powers, Assistants. 

SEAMSTRESS HOSK. 

Eli Dewhurst, Foreman; John C. Eaton, Walter J. Skinner, ^.f.WiV(r«/j- ; A. Heaton, F.noineer 
of Steamer : F. B. Bradbury, J. Doty, Assistants. 



w 


'111 -. 


y 


w 


r:"| iBBBft " 14l|H9f- 


i 


^ 


" 


1 ij> 



House of Steamer No. 2. Crescent Pla 
With Bell Towei. 



THE ■■ STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF URIDGI-PORT. 



3,3 



As a natural sequence to the adoption of modern machiner_v, modern methods were also 

introduced, and, as has been said, in 1872 the volunteer fire department, of which Charles A. Gerdinier 

had been the head from 1869, was disbanded and a 

paid department organized, Mr. Gerdinier being 

retained as chief. The fire department of the city is 

very satisfactory and effective, and for its size, 

Bridgeport has not suffered many serious fires. 

The chief fires of the last forty-five years have been: 

the steamer Alice burned at the dock in 1852; the 

carriage factory of F. Wood & Co. , on Broad street, 

December 22, 1865: lumber yard of Beardsley & 

Wilson, May 28, 1871; lumber yard and mill of 

S. C. Nickerson & Son, September 2,0, 1872 ; Courtland 

Block, February 21, 1873; Presbyterian Church, 

Mvrtle avenue, December 9, 1874; Wheeler & 

Wilson factoi-y, December 14, 1S75; hat factory of 

Glover Sanford & Sons, June 7, 1877, on which 

occasion eleven lives were lost by falling walls; the 

Howe Machine factory, July 28, 1883; the Hurd 

grain elevator, October 13, 18S3: the Barnum Winter 

Quarters, November 21, 1887. 

In the year 1872 a fire alarm telegraph system 

was established and put in operation at a cost of 

§10, 000, having forty-two call boxes. There was 

erected in East Bridgeport a bell tower, the one 

now in use, as a signal station for that side, while 

the boll of the North Congregational Church was 

used on the west side for some time. Not giving 

satisfaction, however, it was subsequently changed 

for the tower with great bell now used, standing in 

the rear of Courtland Block, near the house of 

Steamer No. i, and was at first under the charge of Messrs. Jesse S, Duncomband Joseph P. Reed, but 

afterwards William Krapp was appointed superintendent. 
The year of 1872-73 was one of considerable loss by fire, the 
Nicker.son lumber yard fire and the Courtland Block fire 
coming on September 30, 1872 and February 4, 1873. These 
tires, with others, aggregated a loss over and above insurance 
of $138,257 for the year. 

The status of the fire department at the present time 
may be summarized from the report of the Board of Fire 
Commissioners for the year 1896 as follows: Six steam fire 
engines, houses and land, two hook and ladder companies, 
blacksmith's deparnnent, fire alarm telegraph, hydrant 
department, land on Middle and Congress streets; total 

1^^^^^^^^^^^ valuation $184,718.32. Expenses for the year, $67,105.30. 
^^^^^fe ^B^^^^^^I^H ''• P- Beardsley, C kief Engineer ; Hiram :M. Campbell, 
■H^H^ ^H^^^l^^lvij Eugene M. Wilson, Clarence E. Palmer, Assistant Engineers; 
• ^H^HH ^^^^^^^^^I^S ^\'' -^- Barns, Superintendent of Fire Alarm. 
^"^^™™'-^^SHH^^^^^H^B: 'pj,g above report shows that the City of Bridgeport is, 

for its size, thoroughly well equipped in its fire department 

and the fact that the department is efficient and active is 

House ot Steamer No. ,. Madison .wem.e. demonstrated in part, at least, by the few destructive fires 

that occur The entire losses by fire during the year 1S96, on buildings and individual losses, were 

less than $25,000 and that amount was covered many times by insurance. 




Middle street. 




THE •^STAXDAR'D■S'^ HISTORY OF BRH>GEPORT. 



More recently there have been established independent fire departments in some of the large 
manufacturing plants, such as the Warner Brothers Company, the Eaton, Cole & Burnham Company, 
and that of Thomas P. Taylor. 

FIRE HOUSKS, HAIS, ETC. 

In 1S37 a resolution was passed by the 
Common Council constituting a committee 
con.sisting of Nathaniel Wade, Ira Peck and 
Josiah Hubbell, to secure for the city, by lease 
or sale, sufficient land on which to build a 
house for the fire engines of the city. Up to 
that time they appear to have had no local 
habitation, and to have been housed temporarily 
wherever was convenient, a custom not always 
conducive to the well being of the machinery 





House of steamer No. 
And Truck of Hook 



uan Street. 



md Ladder Nc 



or to the efficiency of the department. It was now 
proposed to make an eft'ort for a better state of things, 
and so the committee above mentioned was appointed. 
But, just then, the unpaid interest on the Housatonic 
Railroad bonds was looming large on the financial 
horizon of the citv, and there was a conservative feeling 
abroad that restrained the impetuous who would have 
made free with the public money. There is no record of 
the report of this committee; but on September 11 it was 
ordered by the Common Council "That Fire Engine 
No. I be deposited for safe keeping in Edwin Porter's 
1iarn in said citv until otherwise directed." 




puin.ic pouxii. 

The habit i>f designating private property 
for public uses had not entirely departed, nine- 
teen years after the turning of " Edwin Porter's 
barn " into an engine house, for, on the i6th of 
April, 1856, the city records show that "the 
barnyard of W. D. Bishop was established as a 
City Pound and Frederick Saxty appointed 
keeper of the same." 

At the next meeting of the Council, May 
5, the following communication was received 
and read : 

"The undersigned would hereby tender 
his resignation as proprietor of the City Pound 

on Golden Hill. Having held it for two or three weeks past, nothing less than a salary of $5,000 per 
annum, payable in advance, would induce me to retain the honor. Yours respectfully, W. D. Bishop." 



Truck of He 



i 



THE "STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



35 



The city accepted the resionation and procured a piece of ground on John street, corner of 
Broad, wiiich was fenced in and made a Pound, at a cost of $74.84. 

SEVENTV-FIVE DOLLAR HOUSES. 

But the city was not always to be " close " with its firemen. In 1854 it was voted by the Council 
"that seventy-five dollars be appropriated for building a house for a hose company, to be located on 
Cedar street," and again, "that a hose company be established on Golden Hill, and seventy-five dollars 
appropriated to build a hou.se." This must in time have dotted the city with a class of structures 
calculated to give variety to its architectural aspects. 

EIRE HATS. 

The same year it was voted "That the premium awarded to Hook and Ladder Co., be not 
paid until the officers of said company equip themselves with fire caps." This was not the first time 
that the head gear of the firemen had caused trouble. At a meeting of the Board of Engineers in 
1852, two years before, a motion was passed to the effect "that every fireman shall provide himself 
with a good fire hat, and that no roll shall be accepted until the foreman has certified that every 
member of his company is equipped with a fire hat." 

Uniformity was essential to a certain degree of discipline, and the demoralizing habit of running 
to fires in an assortment of high hats representing manj- eras and epochs, must have called for extreme 
measures of repression and rebuke. 




CHAPTHR VIII. 

THE GREAT TURNPIKE INTEREST. HOW THE COMPANIES FED BRIDGEPORT. THEV OPPOSE THE RAILROAD 

PROJECTS. THE H(_>USAT0N1C R.R. CHARTERED AND BUILT. THE CITY CREDIT INVOLVED A.NI) 

THE TROUBLE OVER IT. THE DEBT ACKNOWLEDGED AND PROVIDED FOR. QUEER 

LEGAL PERFORMANCES. THE NAUGATUCK R.R. BUILl. 

THE TURNPIKE COMPANIES. 

PREVIOUS to the railroad epoch, which may l^e said to have begun in 1S36, the hiyhways had 
' been the avenues of communication with the interior towns, and by them all products were 
brought to tide water. Bridgeport afforded an advantageous outlet for trade and traffic, and she had 
built up quite a business, leaving Stratford and Fairfield behind in the matter of commercial 
enterprise. She built ships and wharves and stores, and opened quite an extensive trade with the 
West Indies. She begun the manufacture of articles which could be supplied to the back country 
towns, or shipped abroad, and her maniifactures in saddlery, harness, carriages, furniture, cooperage, 
and in other lines, became famous, (lood roads were necessar}', and turnpike companies which 
worked the highways, kept them in repair and took toll upon them, were charterted by the State. 
Large sums of money were invested in these enterprises, and as all the travel of the time and all the 
trade from the interior passed over them, they became profitable investments, and the formation of 
turnpike companies was common. 

The Newtown and Bridgeport Turnpike Company was one of the most important, and this was 
extended to New JVIilford, opening up a rich producing territory. This great public highway became 
one of the most important in Western New England, and paid large dividends to its stockholders. 
Then another company was chartered which built a road from Newtown to Norwalk, and one from 
Monroe to Black Rock, for the purpose of diverting to those shore towns a portion of the trade which 
naturally came to Bridgeport. 

The petition for a charter for a turnpike company sent to the legislature in 1S2S, recites how that 
" Huntington Center is the converging point for many roads, from the northern part of the town, 
from Derby, Roxbury, Woodbury and Oxford," and that the products of agricultural industry and 
domestic manufactures were all carried over those roads to the Center, on the way to " the port or 
Borough of Bridgeport," "which is the natural distributing point for all this produce," and from 
which, over the same roads, are carted back "lumber, coal, brick, timber of all sorts," etc., etc. The 
importance of Bridgeport as a commercial center thus appears, and the character of her business even 
at that early day. The petitioners ask for a turnpike road from Huntington Center to Bridgeport, to 
help all this travel and to make it easier for the " very wealthy farmers of North and Northwestern 
Huntington " 

The Huntington turnpike was built and still exists, although its glor)- as a great traveled 
highway has long since departed. It originally terminated at Main street, below East Washington 
avenue, but now what is left of it in the cit}- limits is on the east side, under the title Huntington 
Road. 

As has been said, the state had granted many turnpike charters (1S36), and the companies were 
frequently prosperous and the charters valuable. 

A schedule of the dividends paid by the Newtown and Bridgeport Turnpike Company for five 
consecutive years shows that it was good paying stock, and in a letter to the Hon. R. M. Sherman of 



THE - STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 37 

Fairfield, written from Xew Haven, January 5, 1838, the following dividends are announced as due 

and payable: 

Xew Haven Bank ---------... -.i/, pgi- cent 

Xew Haven Countv Bank ,ii, " a 

■' J - 

Mechanics Bank - - ------... 2 per cent 

Milford Turnpike . §,.50 per share. 

Derby Turnpike - . . . 

Middletown, Durham and Xew Haven Turnpike, payable on the nth inst. - S5.00 per share. 

Shares of turnpike stock were probably of a par value of $25 each. The directors of the Fairfield 
County Turnpike Co., at a meeting holden at Redding Ridge, August 9, 1836, declared the "stock of 
said company to be of a par value of §25 per share each." 

OPPOSITION TO RAILROADS. 

The advent of the railroads was to this interest a most serious matter. And yet, charters were 
being asked for up to and after the time when the railroad epoch opened. The danger does not 
appear to have been, at first, fully realized. But where railroads were projected that paralleled 
existing turnpikes, the companies owning and controlling the latter remonstrated strongly against the 
injustice that would be done them by the granting of the railroad charters Ihe owners of stock in 
and the officers of the great turnpike companies which terminated in Bridgeport, and which had been 
the feeders of her trade and commerce for a quarter of a century, fought against the chartering of the 
Housatonic railroad, which would drain the country from which they derived their support, and, 
in the end, kill their business. These parties represented, in petitions to the legislature drawn by 
such able and interested lawyers as Judge Roger Minot Sherman of Fairfield, that they had chartered 
and vested rights which were threatened with destruction, but which the State was in honor bound 
to protect. They had invested large sums of money in the building, improving and repair of the 
great turnpike roads, and the stock in the chartered companies was owned, in many instances, by 
widows and orphans, and held in trust for other dependent persons, whose all was imperilled by the 
railroad proposed. When the extent of those interests and the strength of the case thus presented are 
considered, it is remarkable that the new project triumphed, and to have overcome such certainly 
natural and seemingly consistent opposition, the railroad, as an institution, must have possessed, even 
then, that wonderfully persuasive power in shaping legislation, which inheres in it to-day. 

THE RAILROADS. , » 

In 1832 Connecticut had authorized through her legislature, the 
building of railroads for the Boston, Xorwich and New London, Xew 
York and Stonington, and Sharon and Salisbury enterprises. In 1833 the 
legislature chartered the Manchester and Hartford, and New Haven roads, 
and in 1835 the Hartford and Springfield, Fairfield County and the 
Worcester and Hartford roads. There were projects in plenty. 



THE HOUSATONIC ROAD. 

In 1836 a charter for " The Ousatonic Rail Road Company " was granted to Enoch Foote, William 
Peet and William C. Sterling of Bridgeport, and their associates, and this road was to run from the 
north line of the State of Connecticut, on the southern boundary of the town of Sheifteld, thence 
"along the valley of the Ousatonic river" to the town of New Milford, and thence to Bridgeport; or 
to the western line of the State of Connecticut, to meet a proposed road from Harlem through 
Westchester County, New York State. Back of this project was Mr. Alfred Bishop, who in that year 
( 1836) had come from X'ew Jersey and located in Bridgeport. He was a contractor, constructor of 
canals, a promoter of enterprises on a large scale, and a far-sighted man of affairs, but even he would 
have been astounded could he have looked forward to the present time and seen the ultimate 
importance of the projects which he then set on foot. 

THE BOND BUSINESS. 

Mr. Bishop was of Connecticut stock, born in Stamford, but had been operating in New Jersey 
when his attention was called to his native State, and to Bridgeport in particular, as a fruitful field 
for railroad enterprises. The proposed Housatonic railroad was the first one which Mr. Bishop 




38 THE •' STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

undertook to handle. ^Money was required to build the first section of the road, and the newly 
chartered city was asked to join in the undertaking, by which it was to be largely benefited. On 
March 2, 1836, resolutions were passed at a city meeting pledging the credit of the city to the road to 
the extent of $100,000. This was subsequently increased to $150,000, and bonds were issued and sold 
by which the money was raised. A novel responsibility was incurred, it is believed to have been the 
first of its kind in this country, and the question of the legality of the action of the city was a serious 
one, although the transaction had been approved by the legislature. The promoters of the project 
had the utmost confidence in the result, and through the help thus secured the road was built, but it 
was not at first a successful venture, and in the squeeze of a general financial depression which came 
upon the country, the city was called upon to pay interest, which it was not prepared to meet. There 
was a question about the responsibility of individual citizens for the debts of the city, even if legally 
incurred, and a very large amoiint of hostile feeling was developed among those tax-payers who had 
not been concerned in incurring the obligation. Persons moved out of town to escape, if possible, 
their proportion of the debt, and others openly repudiated the whole business, and were for fighting 
against it on the score of illegality. The matter went to the courts, and they decided against the 
city in every case, and in 1856, twenty years after the making of the original loan, a sinking fund was 
established, which provided for and secured the extinction of the debt. 

The result was gratifying, and is pleasant to contemplate to-day, but no one can read the records 
of those tempestuous times and not feel persuaded that both the city as a corporation and the 
individual tax-payers proposed to avoid responsibility for the bonds if possible. A large proportion of 
the property owners felt that they had been led into a losing financial entanglement, from which they 
would free themselves were there any legal loop-hole found large enough to permit their exit. 
There can be little question that had the courts declared the "bonds" illegal, the bondholders would 
have waited long for any provision for their payment. Individuals would not volunteer to pay a debt 
which had been contracted illegally and without their personal consent. Moreover, the city, as a 
corporation, did not propose that what little property it possessed should be liable to seizure, for it 
took measures to secure itself. This is made manifest by the act of Mayor James C. Loomis, on the 
2 1 St day of August, 1843, when he did, in conformity with the action of a city meeting previously 
held, " for the consideration of $15 received to my full satisfaction of George Kippen, demise, lease 
and farm out unto the said George Kippen, his heirs, executors and assignees, the engine houses Nos. 
2 and 3, situated in said city, * * * and also engine house No. 4, situated on Main street, * * * 
together with the land on which said engine houses stand, to have and to hold * * * fQ^ t:he 
period of twelve months from the date of this instrument." But this was not all; at a city meeting 
called for the purpose on September 30, 1843, it was voted "that Philo Hurd, Esq., of the City of 
Bridgeport, be and hereby is appointed agent * * * to assign, transfer and convey unto Noah 
Plumb, Esq., of the town of Bridgeport, all the property of the City of Bridgeport, both real and 
personal, in trust for the benefit of a// the creditors of said city, according to the statutes in such cases 
made and provided." Thus did the city make a voluntary assignment of what property it had left 
after the transfer of the engine houses and lands to George Kippen by Mayor Loomis. And still 
again, in June, 1844, the city sold to the town "all the fire engines with the fixtures and appurtenances 
thereto belonging, together with the houses and lands belonging to said Fire Department," for the 
sum of $1,249.09, and the town in turn leased said property back to the city for the sum of $75 
annually. This was, evidently, to put the property of the Fire Department out of the reach of 
attachment for the city debts. None of these transactions was successful, of course, and they were all 
so clearly illegal that it is strange that they should have been sanctioned by the city fathers. In 
February, 1845, the property transferred as above from the city to the town, was authorized to be 
bought back "for $1,249.09, together with the amount of interest due on same at the time of said 
purchase," and an agent was ordered to "execute and deliver in behalf of said City of Bridgeport, a 
note or notes, to any person or persons who will lend to the said City of Bridgeport the aforesaid sums 
to be paid to said town of Bridgeport for the same." The dodge had failed and the city had 
contracted additional expense in the demonstration of its inutility. 

THE ROAD BUILT. 

In the beginning of this Housatonic railroad enterprise ex-Governor (jideon Tomlinson had 
officiated as president of the company, but at the first annual meeting, in 1S37, the following officers 



THE '-STAXDARiyS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



39 



werechusen; Wm. P. Bnrrall, President; Wni. H. Noble, Secretary; Jesse Sterling, Treasurer, with 
Win. P. Bnrrall, Edwin Porter, Samnel Simons, Stephen Lounsbury, Charles DeForest of Bridgeport, 
Anan Hine, Asa Pickett of New Milford, Alpheus Fuller of Kent, and Peter Bierce of Cornwall, 
Directors. Mr. Horace Nichols became treasurer of the road shortly after this meeting, and held the 
position till 184S. The contract for the work was given to Messrs. Bishop and Sykes to build the 
entire road for the sum of $936,000 — viz.: §636,000 cash, and $300,000 in stock of the company at par. 
Work was begun in July, 1837, 300 men being employed. 

The southern portion of the road, from Bridgeport to New Milford, was built and opened to 
travel in February, 1840. The northern portion was opened in 1842 from Sheffield, j\Iass. to 
Bridgeport. The rails consisted of wooden sills, upon which an iron strap had been spiked down. 
This device was not entirely satisfactory, as the ends of the iron straps had an uncomfortable way of 
curling up, into what were called "snake heads, " and coming through the floors of the cars. The 
•' T " rail was put on in 1846. 

The course of the new road did not run entirely smooth. Embarrassments came, but eventually 
a reorganization was effected, and it was capitalized at $2,000,000, $820,000 being old stock, and the 
remainder preferred. 

In 1887 the officers of the road were Win. H. Barnum, President; Charles K. Averill, Secretary 
and Treasurer; Directors, W. H. Barnum, Wm. D. Bishop, Horace Nichols, A. B. Mygatt, Edward 
Leavitt, John B. Peck, Charles K. Averill, William E. Downs, D. W. Plumb. Upon the retirement 
of Mr. Barnum, November, 1887, new forces came into the management of the road, and Col. Wm. 
H. Stevenson was elected President. The Housatonic road had become " a system," embracing the 
New Haven and Derby Road, and the Danbury and Norwalk road. After considerable figuring and 
battling this minor " system " was absorbed by the greater system of the Consolidated road, the 
Housatonic being leased to that corporation for ninety-nine years, which lease was ratified by the 
stockholders, October 18, 1892. It was annoimced that after December 13, 1892, the Housatonic road 
would he known as the " Berkshire Division," and so vanished the Housatonic road as such. 

THE XL'AGATUCK. KO.AI). 

The ne.\t Bridgeport railroad enterprise was the Naugatuck road, and this was projected by Mr. 
Alfred Bishop, and the objective points were Bridgeport and Waterbury, afterwards extended to 
Winsted. The charter was granted by the legislature of 1845, and it was subsequently amended in 
1847 and 1848. The promoters of the work were Timothy D wight of New Haven, Green Kendrick of 
Waterbury, Thomas Burlock of Derby, Wm. P. Bnrrall of Bridgeport, Philo Hurd of Bridgeport, 
Alfred B. Britton of Bridgeport, and George L. Schuyler of New York, and to them the charter was 
given When Waterbury was to be the northern terminus the capital stock was put at $800,000, but 
when the road was extended to Winsted, the stock was raised to $1,200,000, and this was increased 
hiter on to $[,500,000. The company organized in 1848 and made a contract with Alfred Bishop for 
the building of the road for $800,000 cash and $400,000 bonds. At the organization in 1848 the 
following officers were chosen: Timothy Dwight, President; Ira Sherman. Secretary; Horace Nichols, 
Treasurer. 

In April, 1848, the work of construction was begun, and went rapidly forward. A heavy ''T " rail 
was used on this road similar to that which had replaced the strap rail on the Housatonic. The road 
was turned from Derby south, instead of crossing the river there and following the east bank of the 
Housatonic, it connected with the New York and New Haven road, where the latter crossed the river, 
and entered Bridgeport on the tracks of that company. The Naugatuck was, from the beginning, a 
well-managed road, and its stock was in demand at a premium. It carried no debt, and was always 
an excellent property. It was merged in the Consolidated Corporation in 1887, and became the 
Naugatuck Division of that system. 




CHAPTHR IX. 

THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN ROAU. K. I'.. MAScin's I'REUICTIONS. WHAT THE ROAD IS TO-DAV. 

SIREEl RAILROADS. THE EFFECT OF RAILROADS OX BRIDCEPORT'S GROWTH. SO.ME OF THE 

Mi>>T IMPORTANT OF HER INDUSTRIES. 

THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN R. R. 

"TpHE charter or act of incorporation of the New York and New Haven Raih'oad was obtained from 
the legislature of Connecticut in 1844, and by it Joseph Sheffield, of New Haven, and Anson 

G. Stokes, of New York, with others, were empowered to bnild a railroad not 

exceeding six rods in width from New Haven to the western boundary of the 
state, and to transport passengers and freight upon it by steam or any other 
power, including animals. In the following year the legislature of New York 
granted the same persons the right to extend their projected road from the 
Connecticut line to connect with the Harlem road at Williams Bridge, and to 
enter New York City over the latter line. At the first meeting of stockholders 
in New York, May 19, 1846, Robert Schuyler, Anson G. Stokes, Elisha Townsend, Morris Ketchum 
of New York; Henry J. Sanford, of Stamford; Wm. P. Burrall, Stephen Tomlinson, of Bridgeport, 
Joseph E. Sheffield, of New Haven and F. R. Griffin, of Guilford, were elected Directors, and subse- 
quently Robert vSchnylerwas chosen President and William P. Burrall Secretary. Preliminary surveys 
were made, and a contract closed with Messrs. Alfred Bishop and Sidney G. ^Miller, from New^ Haven 
to Williams Bridge, the work to be begun by the first day of December, 1846, and finished by August i, 
1848. The contract price was $2, 250,000, cash in installments to the amount of $1,350,000; and $900,000 
in stock of the road. 

A SURVEY AND DFINKJN. 

In building the Housatonic road, the final surveys had been made by Mr. Roswell B. ;\Iason, of 
New Jersey, who was also superintendent of the Housatonic from 1840 to 1845, and surveyor for the 
city in laying out new streets. In 1838 Mr. Mason made to the President and Directors of the Housa- 
tonic Railroad Company, a report, which was printed under the title "Report of the Survey and 
Examination of a Route for a Railroad from Bridgeport in the Direction of New York City, to Saw- 
pits Village. By R. B. Mason, Chief Engineer of the Housatonic Railroad." In this report i\Ir. 
Mason says that the line surveyed was " from the corner of Wall and Water streets in Bridgeport to 
the east bank of the Byram river, opposite the village of Sawpits in New York." After giving the 
technical statement of the survey and the estimates of the cost, Mr. ^Nlason says: 

" Although I have estimated for the wooden rail and flat bar, still, I would recommend the edge 
rail, believing it to be sound economy to use it on a road destined to do such an immense amount of 
business. 

" A single track edge rail, with turn-outs, including right of way and all expenses to prepare the 
road for locomotive power, may be constructed for $21,000 per mile. 

" I would refer to some of the resources that this road, when complete, will have for its support. 
The present amount of travel between New York, Bridgeport and the intermediate points, for four or 
five months in the year, is about 250 daily, each way; for the residue of the year, about 100. This, 
however, does not include the travel between Sawpits and New York. I have not been able to ascer- 
tain the amount of travel between the country east of Bridgeport and New York, but from the number 
of steamboats engaged on the sound, almost exclusively in the transportation of passenger.s, we can 
readily conceive the number must be several hundred each way daily. During the summer this travel 
would be divided between the steamboats and railroad. But for several months in the year, a large 



THE 



STAXDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



41 




Modern Freight Locomotive 
H. R. R. 



The Hon. Wm. D. Bishop was its president 



l)roportion of it, would seek the railroad. ***** Where, I would ask, is there a railroad 
project whose benefits, when completed, would be so widely diffused, or that promises such a rich reward 
to the stockholders ?" 

This report was made six years before the granting of a charter to the New York and New Haven 
Company, and it had taken all that time for Mr. Mason's prognostications of success and wealth, 
which, doubtless, seemed to most men of that day ex- 
travagant and visionar}-, to gain credence. 

When work on the new road was begun, Mr. 
^lasnn served as engineer in its construction. He 
subsequently went to Chicago, engaged in railroad 
enterprises in the west, and was Mayor of Chicago 
at the time of the great fire in that city. 

The New York and New Haven Railroad was 
finished in January, 1849, when it was opened its 
entire length. It was a single track road, but in 1S51 
an additional track was laid, and the capitalization 
raised to $3,000,000. The depot of this road in Bridge- 
port is located opposite the Atlantic hotel, on ground 
given by the late Hanford Lyon on the condition that 
it should be used for thirtj- years for depot purposes. 
The limit expired some years ago, and the road has 
accpiired the site by virtue of the contract. 

The road has been ably managed, has been im- 
mensely successful, and has met with few drawbacks, 
from May 17, 1867, to March i, 1879, and isstill adirector. He was an important factor in the growth 
and prosperity of the road. The Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler, of Bridgeport, was a director from May 19, 
1870, until the time of his death, and was as active and efficient in that as in every important work that 
he undertook. After ]Mr. Wheeler's death. Dr. I. deV. Warner, President of the Warner Brothers 
Corset Manufacturing establishment at Bridgeport, was chosen to the vacant place. Many other 

Bridgeport men have been at various times con- 
nected with the road, among them Colonel Wm. H. 
Stevenson, who was superintendent of the Shore 
Line Division, and later of the New York and New 
Haven division for several years, resigning in Febru- 
ary, 1887. 

The New York and New Haven road was 
consolidated with the New Haven and Hartford 
road in 187 1, and has since that time absorbed 
nearly every line in Connecticut, and many of 
those in Massachusetts, including in that state 
what is known as "The Old Colony systetn." 
With the exception of a few miles, it has now ( (897) 
a four track road from New York to New Haven, 
and it has been foremost in introducing the use of 
electricity on its line, running its Nantasket branch 
in Massachusetts by that power, and having a 
third rail from Meriden to Hartford on its regular 
line, for local trains run by electricit)-. Its push 
and enterprise are proverbial. 
In continuation and completion of the four tracking of the road, from New York to New Haven, 
an elevated four track structure through Bridgeport, from Park avenue east, is contemplated, with a 
handsome new station east of the old one, a new bridge across the harbor, and an entire elimination of 
grade crossings in the city. By an agreement with the city, ratified by the legislature in 1895, the 
expense of these changes^ aside from the tracking, depot and other exclusively railroad cxpen.ses, are 




Depot Pr 



42 THE "STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

apportioned as one dollar to the city, to six dollars to the road, with a limit for the city of $400,000. 
It is estimated that the cost to the road will be little short of $3,000,000. The authorized capital of 
this road is $100,000,000 and its traffic is very large. When in 1838 Engineer R. B. ^lason, after 
making a survey for a railroad from Bridgeport to New York, reported thereon, he was bold enough 
to say that in his estimation, the travel over such a road, when built, would amount to several 
hundred each way daily! Undoubtedly, he was thought a visionary in those days, but he would 
certainly have been adjudged a proper candidate for a lunatic asylum had he then predicted one- 
half the enormous development of the next sixty years. In the year 1896 the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Railroad carried over its line an average of more than 120,000 passengers daily, 
including Sundays, the total of passengers for the year being a very little short of 44,000,000 persons. 

STREET RAILROADS. 

The Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company was organized in 1865, with a capital of $100,000, audits 
charter allowed the running of its lines from Pembroke lake to Mountain Grove Cemetery and Black 
Rock, with a branch to Seaside Park. It was opened to public travel as far as the Sterling House on 
Main street, January, 1866, and was completed to Seaside Park shortly after that time, and the tracks 
were also extended out State street to Fairfield avenue. At the time of the organization of the company, 
the officers were: President, Albert Eames; .Secretary and Treasurer, Frederick Hurd; Superintend- 
ent, B..F. Lashar; Directors, N. Wheeler, P. T. Barnum, C. A. Hotchkiss, James Wilson, Albert 
Eames, H. E. Bowser, and F. Hurd. For a number of years the patronage was small, and the road 
languished. 

In 1885 the Bridgeport and West Stratford Horse Railroad Company was chartered, with the 
right to run its tracks from the depot of the Consolidated Railroad in Bridgeport, along Stratford 
avenue to Nesumpaws creek, with a branch through East Main street, to Crescent avenue. The 
incorporators were H. N. Beardsley, A. J. Beardsley, Warren B. Nichols, H. B. Drew, Samuel Wilmot, 
James Staples, V. R. C. (biddings, D. F. Hollister, Jacob Borstleman and James Bounds. 

The Company organized with D. F. Hollister as President ; H. B. Drew, Secretary and Treasurer^ 
and the road was successful from the start. 

In August, 1890, the Bridgeport road was purchased by a Rochester syndicate; in 1892 it was 
sold to Mr. Charles A. Hotchkiss, of Bridgeport, and in 1893 a company under the name of the Bridge- 
port Traction Company was organized, capital $1,000,000, and came into possession by purchase of 
both the West Stratford, or West End, and the old Bridgeport lines. The Traction Company in 1894 
introduced the overhead trolley system, so generally in use, and iniTnediately extended its lines much 
beyond the former limits, reaching Stratford (at Paradise Green and Washington Bridge) on the east, 
and Fairfield and Southport on the west. The principal streets were double tracked, extensions were 
made through State street to Fairfield avenue; through Fairfield avenue, from Main street to Fairfield 
and Southport; through Park avenue to Seaside Park, south, and to Woodlawn Park and the Country 
Club north ; through Noble avenue, on the east side, to Beardsley Park, and in various other directions, 
till its lines, counted as single tracks, aggregated, in 1896, 38.2 miles in the city limits, and it paid 
into the city treasury that year, in taxes, $17,521.40, The company was organized with Colonel 
N. H. Heft as President, but in 1895 ^^^ resigned to take the position of electrical manager on the Con- 
solidated road, in the inauguration of its electrical work, and Mr. Andrew Radel was elected president 
in his place. Under Mr. Radel the road has been run in an admirable manner, and the improvement 
over the past is very great. The Traction Company has obtained permission during the past winter to 
extend its iracks to Westport. 

RAILROADS AND INDUSTRIES. 

Railroads, both steam and electric, have done much for Bridgeport, and she, in turn, has done 
much for them. She has granted them, practically for nothing, franchises sure to be of immense 
value in the future, and she must look to her incidental increment for the reward of her generosity. 
With the grade crossings removed on the steam roads, now happily possible within a lifetime, and the 
improvement and extension of her city railway service, she will be well provided, and more attractive 
than ever bsfore to industrial enterprises, seeking an advantageous location at tide water, with all 



THE -STAXDARD'S HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



43 




UridRepon fro 



Presbyterian Churcli, Myrtle 
East. 1S70. 



conveniences of up-to-date civilization at hand. The old turnpikes were Bridgeport's feeders fifty 
years ago, and they did their work and poured into her lap the products of many thriving towns in the 
interior. Then came the railroads, and the business of Bridgeport grew, and the po.ssibilities opened 
out indefinitely. When General Wm. H. Noble and P. T. Barnum, believing in the future, made 
East Bridgeport desirable for both manufacturing enterprises and for residential purposes, they could 
not foresee all that would come to vindicate their 
enterprise and business sagacity. But the great 
Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Co., capital 
$1,000,000; The Howe Machine Co. , while it existed, 
and its successor, the Salts Textile Manufacturing 
Co., capital, $100,000; The Armstrong ]Manu- 
facturing Co., capital, $100,000; The Bridgeport 
Brass Co. , capital, $150,000; The Chain Co., capital, 
$150,000; The Holmes and Edwards Silver Co., 
capital, $400,000; The Consolidated Safety Valve 
Co., capital, $100,000; The Union Metallic Cart- 
ridge Co., capital, $300,000; The Sanford Hat 
Manufactory and its successor, the American 
Ordnance Co., capital, $2,500,000; The Farist Steel 
Co., capital, $295,000; The Moniunental Bronze 
Co., capital, $150,000; The Ashcroft Manufactur- 
ing Co., capital, $200,000, and a number of other 
corporate and private business enterprises, consti- 
tute in that section of the city a large town, which, 
if separated from the western portion, would command attention by its varied and extensive indus- 
tries, and by all the concomitants of an important and thriving community. 

But the " East Side" has not enjoyed a monopoly of growth, nor of enterprising men during these 
forty-seven years of railroad ministration. As there was less in East Bridgeport to begin with, so 

does its development seem the more remarkable, 
but the old town has increased quite as fast in that 
period, and very much the same influences have 
helped it and have scattered large manufacturing 
and business concerns all along the line of the New 
York and New Haven Railroad, as well as else- 
where in its limits. Prominent among these in 
1896 were: The American Graphophone Co , 
capital, $1,200,000; The Bridgeport Copper Co., 
capital, $100,000; Bridgeport Deoxodized Metal 
Co., capital, $75,000; The Bridgeport Elastic Web 
C'o., capital, $125,000; The Bridgeport Forge Co., 
capital, $150,000; The Bridgeport Malleable Iron 
Co., capital, $200,000; The Bridgeport Mining and 
Milling Co., capital, $600,000; The Bridgeport 
Patent Leather Co., capital, $100,000; The BuUard 
Machine Tool Co., capital, $250,000; The Canfield 
Rubber Co., capital, $250,000; The Connecticut 
Breweries Co., capital, $700,000; The Consolidated 
Rolling Stock Co., capital, $4,167,35°; The D. B. 
Crockett Co., capital, $100,000 ; The Eaton Cole & Burnham Co., capital, $350,000; The Howland 
Dry Goods Co., capital, $125,000; The Jennings' Bros. Manufacturing Co., capital, $100,000; The H. 
J. Lewis Oyster Co., capital, $100,000; The Lordship Park Association, capital, $200,000; The May 
Oyster Co., capital, $120,000; The Parrott Varnish Co., capital, $150,000; The Read Carpet Co., 
capital, $200,000; The D. M. Read Co. (dry goods), capital, $125,000; The Steinert& Sons' Co., capital, 
$100,000; TheW. F. Swords Lumber Co. . capital, $200,000: The Warner Bro.«. Co., capital, $1,000,000; 




Across the River. East Bridgeport, 



44 THE - STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

The Wilmott iS: Hobbs Manufacturing Co., capital, $250,000, and tlie Yost Writing Machine Co., 
capital, $1,000,000. 

Situated as it is, at tide water, on the Sound, within easy distance of the greatest distributing 
market of the country, and with all its other facilities, it is no wonder that Bridgeport has become a 
great manufacturing town, and is rapidly increasing in importance. It sends its name on .sewing 
machines, cartridges, cannon of all modern kinds, corsets, lamps, bicycles, locks, and a thousand and 
one other products of modern invention, into every corner of the globe. A sample of its impartiality 
and success in industrial competition, maybe found in the fact that in 1877, twenty years ago, during the 
war between Turkey and Russia, the representatives of both these governments were in Bridgeport 
inspecting cartridges ordered at the Union Metallic Cartridge Company's works, and in February of 
that year, that company shipped 500 tons of ammunition to Turkey, with heavy orders to Russia also; 
80,000,000 cartridges were ordered by the Italian government, and the Bridgeport Steel works were 
making bayonets for both Turkey and Russia, while the Pacific Iron Works were turning out machinery 
for the Turks. 




The Elevator. 



i 



CHAPTHR X. 

THE INKl.CKNXE OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. ITS G00[) WORK. 1 H K HARl:OR AND HARBOR IMPKOVEMEN 1>. 

HARBOR LIGHTS. BREAKWATERS, CHANNELS, ETC. THE l.:OMMERCE OF IHE PLACE. THE 

OVSIER INDUSTRY. STE A .^^;0A■1 S, OLD AND NEW. 

BOARD OF TRADE, Ere. 
A MOXG the manufacturing- and business concerns of Bridgeport are representatives of nearly every 
•'^ important industry in the country, and in some lines the city leads all others. Her corporations 

number over 200, employ an army of men, and are so diversified that some of them are busy at all 




Her 


•ey Higby. Ksq. 


Gideon Thompson, Esq. 


Hon 


Russel Tomlinson 


Wm 


B. Hall. Esq. 


F. W. Parrott, Esq. 


Majc 


r Wm. H. Mallory 


J.,hr 


E. Pond, Esq. 


Hon. David M. Read. 


Hon 


D. B. Lockwood. 



times. Their aggregated capital is over twenty-five millions of dollars. Before the war of the 
rebellion, and for ten years thereafter, a lew prominent manufacturing concerns gave character to the 
business of the place, but after the organization <jf the Board of Trade, in 1875, the industries of 



46 



THE '-STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. 




Tlie First Harbor Light. 



Bridgeport became more varied, and now from Black Rock on the west to the Stratford line on the 
east, there is a succession of important and extensive manufacturing concerns which impress the most 
casual beholder and indicate the commercial and industrial importance of the place. While the 

growth has not been owing entirely 
to the efforts to the Board of Trade, 
still that organization had done much 
to assist it and its efforts continue 
along the same line. Manufacturing 
establishments, which, beginning in 
a small way in interior towns, have 
grown to be prosperous and to need 
superior facilities, have moved to 
tidewater at Bridgeport and found 
in the decreased cost of freights 
from this location an important addi- 
tion to their profits. In settling 
upon this improved location the 
judicious endeavors of the members 
of the Board of Trade have fre- 
quently been decisive. The Board 
of Trade was formed in 1875, as has 
been said, and its members have 
been the active and energetic busi- 
ness men of the place. The Hon. 
Robert T. Clark, then Mayor, was 
its first President, and he was siicceeded the next year by the Hon. David M. Read, who was for 
many years its most active and efficient head, while the late R. B. Lacey was its faithful Secretary. 
In 1891 Mr. Charles R. Brothwell succeeded Mr. Read, and in 1893 Mr. Zalmon Goodsell was chosen 
President, and in 1894 Captain John McNeil, and E. N. Sperry in 1895, The present incumbent, 
Mr. Zalmon Goodsell, was re-elected 
at the last annual meeting (1897). 
Every year the Board of Trade 
has a banquet, at which the accom- 
plishments of the year are re- 
hearsed, and encouragement gained 
for new efforts. The influence of 
such a body of prominent and active 
business men is very great, and 
there is no reason why there should 
not be accomplished through their 
exertions as mrich progress here- 
after as in the past. 

r.RIDi;EI'(lKT's UAkl;ilK. 

A most important factor in the 
commerce of Bridgeport is its har- 
bor, and that is growing in capacity 
constantly. When all business was 
done at the head of navigation on 
the Pequonnock, at Berkshire, any 
vessel that could get over the bar at 

the mouth of the harbor could sail up the river. Modern improvements have greatly changed all 
this. The government has dredged a wide and deep channel through the bar, has built breakwaters 
and established lighthouses, and is about to make other changes, which will add very much to the 




The Second Harbor Light. 



A 



THE -STAXDARiyS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



47 




The Third Harbor Light. 



available water front of tlie city. The first lighthouse wa.s a lantern hung from the entl of a mast in 
1844, by Captain Abraham A. McNeil, father of Harbor Master John McNeil. Then Captain John 
Brooks, Jr., decked over a boat and hung a lantern on top of that and anchored the boat near where 
the government had dredged a 
channel, or, as Captain Brooks called 
it "a ditch " through the bar. This 
boat was succeeded by a number of 
spiles driven into the mud and 
bound together at the top, from 
which a light was suspended. Thus, 
by .slow gradations, the form of a 
real lighthouse was approached. In 
1851 a small lighthouse was erected 
by government, and this was suc- 
ceeded in 1871 by the present struc- 
ture. In the same year the govern- 
ment began a series of improvements 
in Bridgeport harbor, still being 
carried on, and up to 1890 there 
had been expended in the work 
§250,000. 

The building of the inner break- 
water and the dredging of a basin 
north of it greatly enlarged the 
capacity of the harbor and made it 

less necessary to crowd the inner harbor with craft seeking a refuge. The placing of a light at the 
end of the inner breakwater completes its usefulness, and for this, as for much more of the recent 
improvement of the harbor, the city is largely indebted to the present Harbor Master Captain John 
McNeil. It is proper to state that the land occupied by this inner breakwater was given to the 
government by Nathaniel Wheeler, (Jeorge Mallory and P. T. Barnum, who thus greatly facilitated 

securing that important improvement 
to the harbor. The river has been 
dredged from the lower Bridge to 
Berkshire bridge, to twelve feet at 
high water, and the completion of 
the additional improvements, in- 
cluding the dredging of Yellow Mill 
pond to the railroad culvert, for the 
beginning of which an appropriation 
has been made, will make Bridge- 
port's harbor much more nearly 
adequate to her needs than it has 
been. The main channel is to average 
22 to 23 feet in depth from the outer 
bar to the lower bridge, thus ad- 
mitting vessels of deep draft and 
large carrying capacity. 

There is a large amount of 

boating doneby individuals and clubs, 

and the new clubhouse of the Park 

City Yacht Club, is located at the 

eastern end of Yellow Mill bridge. In a recent report of the harbor master, the number of steamers, 

sailing vessels, canal boats and barges entering the harbor for the current year was put at 18,572, 

with an aggregate tonnage of 1,329,749 tons. 




Taking Off the Keeper 



THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 




In connection with the commerce of Bridgeport, the oyster industry may be appropriately 
mentioned. It employs nineteen steamers and 200 schooners and sloops. A good year's work on the 

great natural oyster bed, off Bridgeport and Strat- 
ford, reserved for the exclusive use of the citizens of 
the state, will not infrequently result in the dredging 
of more than 600,000 bushels of seed oysters, which 
are sold mainly to the owners of private oyster beds, 
and shipped from this port. .Sixty thousand bushels 
of selected oysters have been sent from Bridgeport to 
Europe in a recent season. 

For many years Black Rock Harbor was superior 
in ease of access and depth of channel to that at 
Bridgeport proper, but the improvement of Bridge- 
port harbor has made it now, in some respects, the 
better of the two. vStill the shorter channel to the 
sound, at Black Rock, makes it a favorite with a 
certain class of vessels, particularly yachts, which wish 
to get quickly into harbor and out again, and so the 
new clubhouse of the Bridgeport Yacht Club, Com- 
modore F. M. Wilson, has been located there, and 
was opened to its members the present season (1897). 

STEA.MBOATS, OLD AND NEW. 

Several years before the advent of the railroads 
the waters of Bridgeport harbor had been stirred bj- 
the power of steam, and from the first she accepted 
111 i.igep.irt Light, Winter of .8ts3. the Steamboat as a fixed fact. On March 22, 1815, 

"The Republican Farmer,"' a newspaper printed in 
Bridgeport, noted the fact that: "The steamboat Fulton passed this place yesterday at one o'clock on 
her wav from New York to New Haven, on her first 
trip." In 1S24 the "Connecticut Courier, " a paper 
published in Bridgeport, printed an advertisement to 
the efTect that the steamboat. General LaFayette, 
Captain Thomas Vose, would " continue the regular 
routes between this place and New York." She ran 
between Derby, New York and "way stations," 
stopping at Bridgeport as one of them. In the same 
5'ear the General Assembly chartered the Bridge- 
port Steamboat Company, the corporators being- 
Daniel Sterling, Enoch Foote, Ransome C. Canfield, 

Isaac Sherman, Thomas C. Wordin, Wilson Hawley 

and others. It is not clear what boat or boats they 

ran, but it is thought the (ieneral LaFayette was 

owned by them. 

Other boats came thick and fast; in 1828 the 

John Marshall was put on the route somewhere, 

calling at Bridgeport. Tlien came the Citizen, 

Captain John Brooks, Jr., in 1832; then the West- 
chester in 1833; the Nimrod, Captain John Brooks, 

Jr., in 1835; the Vanderbilt in 1837; the Croton in 

1840; the Eureka in 1843, and in the same year 

the Niagara and the Bell. The Moutaineer was put 

on in 1844, and, considering the starting point in 

New York, made the best time ever made from .\cr..ss the inner Harbor-East. LiKlu un tlie Inne 
T-, . , ^ . ^, , ■ , U. S. Torpedo Boat, Ericsson, at the Dock, Bridg 

that City to Bridgeport, viz.: three hours, eight ,«- b. w..d.. Ph„,„.) 




THE "STAXDARlfS" HISTORY OF BRHIGEFORT. 




(^ ^^..h^C 



/-O-^?-? rcy-T^X. 



^ 



STEAMBOAT Nl^B^Cr, 



/.,). 



minutes. Other boats were the Mutual Safety in 1S40, and Alice in 1S53, afterwards burned. There 
were also the Trojan, the Cataline, the Fairfield and others. There was great competition, and in 
1846 the Cataline put the fare to New York down to 12+ cents, the Nimrod and Eureka keeping theirs 
at fifty cents. The Trojan 
had dropped to seventy-five 
cents, and made no further 
reduction. She was a "way 
boat " stopping at Port Ches- 
ter, Rocky Neck, Stamford 
and Norwalk on the way to 
Bridgeport. But this state 
of abounding boats and low 
fares could not last long, and 
with the opening of the New 
York and New Haven Rail- 
road in 1849, the business of 
many boats must have de- 
parted. 

The Bridgeport Steamboat 
Company, President, James 
H. Jenkins; Vice-President, 
Joseph Richardson (deceased) 
H. Connellv, 






Bill for Freight 



Secretary and Treasurer, Howard Staples, and Superintendent, Frank 
at present runs the two fine steamers, "Uosedale" and "Nutmeg State," between 
Bridgep(jrt and New York, and answers the public demand. 




CHAPTHK XI. 

THE STREET LIGHT? OV llkll )GEPORT, OLD AND NEW. SUMK CON'TR.\STS. THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE 

CrTV. THE BRIDGES THAT HAVE KEEN EUILT. 

STREET LIGHTS. 

STREET li:.;hts were adopted in Xovember, 1825. It was then voted by the Warden and Burgesses 
that '• eight lights be erected in the Borough, to be distributed as follows: One to be put in the 
centre of Company Block; one on the corner of Thaddeus Hubbell's store; one on the corner of 
Seth B. Joaes' shop; one at Kippen and Camps'; one at the corner of Charles "Winton's house; one 
at Widow Miriam Hubbell's corner; one at the corner of D. Sterling's store; one at the west end of 
the bridge." The illuminant w'as whale oil, and although not of dazzling brilliancy, these lamps w^ere 
doubtless the marks, to the appreciative, of enterprise, expansion, prosperity. It is, therefore. 




street. U.okinK South fr 



unpleasant to note that in November, 1826, it was "not deemed expedient that the borough lamps be 
lighted this season " and the following vote was recorded: " Voted, that the lamps be taken down and 
placed for the present in some secure place." But the lamps were resumed later on and were added 
to from time to time, and the " Watch " was paid something extra to light and extinguish them. 

THE GAS COMPANIES. 
In May, 1849, the Legislature chartered the Bridgeport Gas Light Company, R. B. Mason, W. P. 
Burrall, Philo Hui-d, Hanford Lyon, Horace Nichols and Henry T. Huggins, being corporators. On 



THE ■■ STAXDAA'DS- HISTOkV OF UklDf.EPORT. 



51 



July 14, 1 85 1, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Foote and S. F. Hurd were appointed a committee to 
treat with the company for the lighting: of the city. They were to make a contract for not more than 
"thirty lamps; also to make such arrangements with persons before whose premises the L'.mps may be 
placed for siich part of the expense as may be deemed right and proper." 

In 1857 the use of gas had become very general, for we find it in the engine houses, as is shown 
by bills presented to the Board of Engineers, as follows: No. 2, 80 cents; No. 5, $1.60; Reindeer 
Hose Co. No. I, $4, and Empire No. 4, §4.50. The last two bills were taken into serious considera- 
tion. An investigation was ordered, and ;\Ir. Tarbox, Superintendent of the gas works, reported that 
on the night of the 6th of February " 100 feet of gas was consumed by Empire No. 4, but that he 
could discover no leak in the pipes. " It is to be presumed that the bill was paid and the mystery 
remained unsolved. 

Hanford Lyon was President of the Gas Company for some years, but in 1870 resi^incd, and w-as 
succeeded by Amos S. Treat, and Charles A. Gerdinier was chosen Superintendent. Mr. Treat 




-/V^. .-»- 






;^^'^^ 3i 11 j^ 











et, l(>..kini- North 



tlie Conneulicut Hank liiiikhng. 



was President until the time of his death, and Mr. (ierdinicr still retains his place, Mr. Treat was 
succeeded by Mr. \V. R. Higby, the present President, and Mr. Frank B. Sammis is Treasurer. The 
capital stock is $200,000. The company has run its pipes into nearly every street in the city and has 
a very large patronage. It furnishes gas for domestic and mechanical purposes at rechux-d rates, and 
there is quite an extensive demand for it. 

Thk Citizens' Gas Company was organized in 1895, and has its plant on Howard avenue, corner of 
Spruce street. It makes gas for mechanical and domestic purposes by the process of Burdett Loomis, 
the Hartford inventor. It has already many miles of pipes laid down and many hundreds of 
customers. Its capital stock is $1,000,000. Charles R. Dieterick, New York, President. Local 
Manager, Charles D. Woodruff. 

The Bridgkpokt Ei.ei tkic LiGnr Co. was incorporated in 18S4, and has its plant on John street. 
Its capital is $250,000. It has a large number of customers, of which the city is one of the first. The 
electric lights were first used by the city on the streets, February 9, 18S5, or more than twelve years 
ago, and since that time their number has been constantly increasing. The officers of this company 



52 



THE "STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. 




Natlianiel Whe 



are: President and Secretary, James English; Vice-President, E. G. Burnham; Treasurer, L. S. 
Catlin. The city has upon its streets loi gas lights; 239 gasoline lamps in outlying districts, and 317 
electric arc lights of 1200 candle power each, or a total of 657 street lights. The entire cost of these 
in 1895-96, was $43,404.88. This contrasts strongly with the eight oil 
lamps put up in 1825, and taken down and put away for safe keeping- 
next year. 

A still greater contrast is afforded by the " Inventory of the property 
of the late borough of Bridgeport," transferred to the new city of 
Bridgeport, by the Wardens and Burgesses and Freeman of said borough, 
on the 19th day of September, 1836. It is as follows: 
Three fire engines with apparatus thereto belonging. 
Also the hooks and ladders and other apparatus used by the Hook and 
Ladder Co. 

One clock, formerly called the Borough clock, situated in the belfry of the North Congregational 
Meeting House. 
Also one stove. 

The last inventory of the property of the city of Bridgeport, made in 1S96, places its value at 
very nearly $2,000,000. 

BRIDGEPORT'S WATER SUPPLY. 

Bridgeport has a very liberal and adequate supply of good water for domestic and manufacturing 

purposes, and uses more daily in proportion to her size than most any other city in the country. She 

has only attained to the possibilities of this condition through much tribulation in the past and 

the waging of a vigorous war with those who have liad control of her 

water supply. 

About the year 1818 the Rev. Elijah Waterman, pastor of the First 
(or North) Congregational Church, built a house on Golden Hill, which 
subsequently became the residence of Hanford Lyon, Esq. At that time 
" the lane," now Golden Hill street, was closed at Main street by a "pair 
lit" bars." Mr. Waterman owned the entire front of Golden Hill, and he 
utilized certain springs upon his property by laying wooden pipes from 
them down to Main street and Water street, and instituted the first 
public supply to the city. A trough, located on Main street, near 
Cannon, was supplied from this source, and was labeled "Public Water," and used by all. Springs 
below Mr. Waterman's, on the land of Philo Hurd, Esq., were utilized in a similar manner by a 
Brewing Company. This supply was afterward extended to the streets below, by Mr. Lemuel 
Hubbell, who added to it the spring on the land where now stands the residence of Clapp Spooner, 
Esc^., on the corner of Golden Hill and Harrison streets. Mr. Lewis C. Segee bought out the 
business of Mr. Waterman and continued it until 1848, when he sold to a Mr. Hatch. 

The " public wells," the comparatively small supply from the Golden Hill springs, and the river, 
constituted the " city water," upon which it must depend in case of fire, and for many public purposes. 
While the town was small these supplies were well enough, but as the population increased, and 
particularly as manufacturing industries multiplied, the need of a plentiful 
and reliable supply of water pressed upon the city sorely. The report of 
the Board of Engineers to the Council for the year 1848, refers to the 
"public wells" as in "good condition, but as usual, during the late drv 
season have afforded little or no water." The uncertainty of this supply 
is thus apparent, and the suggestion which accompanies it is significant : 
"The Board would suggest to your Honorable Body the propriety of 
considering whether the public interest does not require some further 
provision for several reservoirs of water near the public buildings on Broad kl-,,,1, ,ire "' ""= '"'« 

street, to be filled from their roofs, or in case of long continued drought, by 

the Department from the harbor, which would afford a supply not now realized from the wells." 
The Council does not appear to have taken action on this matter, but on February 4, 1850, the 
Board of Engineers were authorized "to construct a reservoir containino- 100 hoosheads water of near 




uf G. C. Waldo 




THE -STAXnARiyS- HISTORY OF BRH)OE1'OKT. 



53 



the Catholic Church, agreeably to their report." This was the old St. James' Church, a brick building- 
built in 1842-43, on the corner of Arch street and Washington avenue. The reservoir was to be filled 
from its roof. But relief was at hand. 

In 1853 the city gave to Nathaniel Green, agent of the Pequonnock Mills, at North Bridgeport, 
"the sole and exclusive right and privilege of laying down pipes in the public streets and avenues and 
highways," for the purpose of supplying public water, on the condition that said Green, "his 
associates or said incorporated company, shall supply said city and the inhabitants thereof, with a full 
and ample supply of pure water for all public, mechanical, domestic and all other ordinary iises and 
purposes." The franchise was broad, but the conditions were definite, and on the failure to comply 
with them, " then all the rights, privileges and powers hereby conferred shall cease and determine." 
Such were the words of the resolution passed by the city. The Bridgeport Water Company was 
formed in 1853, Peter M. Thorpe, President; but Nathaniel Green was still the controlling power. A 
contract was made with the city for a supply of water for all city purposes, and to individuals and 
companies for domestic and manufacturing uses, and the rates were fixed. It was signed, January 3, 
1855, by P. M. Thorpe, for the Bridgeport Water Company, and John Brooks, Mayor, on behalf of 
the city. Pipes were laid and hydrants set up, but the enterprise did not prosper. Mr. (ireen 
conferred a great benefit upon the 
place, but lost money by the ven- 
ture. The company issued bonds 
to about $90,000, and being unable 
to take care of them, they were 
sold out, and a new company came 
into control of the franchises and 
works at a low figure, but posses- 
sing all the rights of the old com- 
pany. The new owners were 
organized in 1S57, under the name 
of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Co. , 
and proceeded to run the water 
supply on principles that were 
more economical for the company 
if less satisfactory for the public. 

From the formation of the new 
company, in which Mr. Green was 
a member and director although 
no longer President, for nearly 
twenty years there was constant 
friction between the company, the 
city and the people. The works were run to pay the stockholders and the supply in quantity and 
quality was not satisfactory. Repeated attempts to purchase the works were made b}' the city, but 
always failed from the unwillingness of the people to pay any price for the franchise they had given 
the company. At the same time the company had difficulties to contend with in the making of new 
reservoirs, and in keeping pace with the rapidly growing demands of the city that taxed their energies 
and abilities very greatly. In 1873-74 the company was constituted as follows; 

Joseph Richardson, President; Charles H. Thorpe, Secretary and Treasurer; George Richardson, 
Superintendent. Directors: Joseph Richardson, Nathaniel Wheeler, John H. Billings (deceased), 
Win. H. Perrv and Samuel W. Baldwin. 




Herkshire Jlill and Bridge, 
of Navigation and first seat of Commerce 



INCRKASED W.\TER SUPPI.V. 

On ;\Iarch 10, 18S6, an organization styled "The Citizens' Water Co.," of Bridgeport, was 
chartered by the Legislature. Its officers were. President, I. de V. Warner; Secretary and Treasurer, 
James Staples; Directors, I. de V. Warner, James Staples, H. A. Beardsley, D. F. Hollister, H. N. 
Beardsley, L. P. Warner and P. T. Barnum. The new company located its reservoir and dam on Mill 
river, in Easton, and immediately connected the city with its works. The work of introducing the 



54 



THE -STAXDARD'S- HISTORY UF BRHJGHPORT. 



water from Mill river into the city was well along, when, in November, 1887, the Hj'draulic Company 
consolidated with the Citizens' Water Company, the former retaining its name. The Hydraulic 
Company had, under the Presidency of P. T. Barniim, from 1875 to 1885, been slowly improving its 
plant. In 1886 the Hon. Wm. D. Bishop was chosen President. Two years afterwards Mr. Bishop 
resigned and was succeeded by Charles Sherwood, Esq., as President, which position he has held ever 
since. After acquiring the Mill river property the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company made very 
exten.sive and costly improvements. All its reservoirs have been improved, and two new ones built in 
Easton, with a capacity of 900,000,000 gallons. So far as is practicable the "dead ends" have been 
done away with throughout the city and the company is improving its service in every way. The water 
supply is steady and ample and a practically unlimited demand is answered to the general satisfaction. 
In July, 1886, the company purchased the franchise of the Fairchild paper mill and extinguished the 
last source of contamination on its Pequonnock river supplv. The company has a fine office, handy 
of access, in the Public Libraiy Building on John street. 

BRIDGES. 
The bridges, from which Bridgeport takes a portion of its name, have been and still are 
nimieruus. The first was the bridge at the head of navigation on the Pequonnock river (River 




The Old Lower Bridge and East Bridgeport, before the ope 



Street), across the lower end of Berkshire mill pond. The present bridge is of recent construction, 
but the former one antedated the revolution. Then came the "Lottery Bridge," socalled, from 
the foot of Wall street to Stratford avenue (1791), which was replaced about 1807, by a bridge, 
the western terminus of which was Fairfield avenue, as at present. This was a toll bridge until 
1868, when the city bought it and made it free. It was called the' Lower Bridge. Berkshire was 
either the second or third on the list, the dam being built just above the Berkshire miU in 17S3, and 
the bridge nine or ten years later. Then in 1836 Willis Stillman, B. G. Noble and others, built a 
toll bridge at a place called Indian Island. This was known as " Noble's Bridge," and was bought by 
the city and made free in 1864. It was rebuilt in 1893 at a cost of about $50,000. 

The railroad bridge was built in 1848 by the New York and New Haven Railroad Company, and 
replaced in 1869 by an iron structure of a substantial character. In 1850 a company consisting of 
Abijah Burroughs, Wm. A. Peck and others, built a foot-bridge along the railroad bridge, on the 
south side, on the same foundations with that structure, and charged a toll of one cent. In 1869 the 
city built the foot bridge on the northern side of the railroad bridge and made it free. 

The first center bridge was built by Messrs. P. T. Barnum and Wm. H. Noble, in opening up 
their East Bridgeport territory. Its eastern terminus was about where that of the present Center 
Bridge is, but on the west side it landed a considerable distance to the south, and crossed the tracks of 
the Housatonic Railroad. It was bought by the city and made free in 1S64. 



i 



THE - STA.\DARI/S- HISTORY OF BRHHiEl'ORT. 




The present Center Brid-e, from Cong-ress street on the west side to the foot of Wilham street, 

on the east, was opened to travel in 1870. It is a 
substantial stone and iron bridge, with a draw 210 
feet long, and is an ornament to that portion of the 

city. It was built by AVm. S. Knowlton, Esq., and 

cost, in round numbers, $100,000. 

The Lower Bridge was rebuilt in 1888, under the 

supervision of Charles R. Brothwell, of the Board 

of Public Works, at a cost of $69,307.50, nearly 100 

years after the erection of the first bridge in this 

part of the town. The new bridge has an electric 

motor for moving the draw, the first ever applied 

for that purpose, and in widening the approach to 

the bridge from the east side, the city acquired and 

removed, in 1887, the "Miller Building," used as a 

steam mill, and standing in front of what is now the 

the main entrance to the steamboat dock. 

"Yellow Mill Bridge," the bridge over the 

lower portion of Yellow Mill pond, or "Old Mill 

creek," was originally a toll bridge, built by John r.,nK, ess street Bridge, i„«ki„j; N„rth. ,8,0. 

Benjamin, of Stratford, in 1792. and then Joseph Walker built, about that time, a dam, and on 

the east side a tide mill, known subsequently as 
"Yellow Mill." In 1884 the mill and mill privilege 
were owned by Mr. (Jeorge F. Cook, and in that 
year the mill was destroyed bj- fire. 

An appropriation has been made by the Gov- 
ernment of the United States for dredging 
Yellow Mill pond its entire length, from the main 
channel in the harbor, and the city has appropriated 
the money for rebuilding this bridge, with a 
:iroper structure and drawbridge, to admit i)f 
I he navigation of the channel, thus to be made 
ip to the head of the creek or pond at the 
works of the American Ordnance Company. A 
most important water front for manufacturing 
purposes will thus be added t<i that already existing 
in the city. 

Another bridge in which Bridgeport has an 
.Miller Buiidin.i,', Rem.ived 1887. Old approach to Lower Bridge. interest is the Washington Bridge, over the Housa- 

tonic River, between Stratford and Milford, on the 

old traveled highway along the coast. This bridge, 

originally a private enterprise, has been owned more 

recently l)y Bridgeport, Milford and Stratford, Bridge- 
port owning the major portion. The bridge was a toll 

bridge up to 1889, when, under an act of the Legisla- 
ture, passed largely by the active exertions of Senator 

D. M. Read, of Bridgeport, and representative Charles 

W. Beardsley, of Milford, the bridge was made over to 

Fairfield and New Haven counties, as a free bridge, the 

counties assuming the care and maintenance thereof. 

This movement was to facilitate travel in the direction 

of Bridgejiort, and doubtless it has had that effect. 





CHAPTFR XII. 



CHANGES IX THE CITY CHARTER. LIST OF MAVOK>. PRESENT .\IAK.E-UP OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT. 

liOARDS AND CO-M.MISSIONS. REPRESENTATIVES. SENATORS. COUNTY OFFICERS. 

CITY COURT. CITY ATTORNEY. POLICE DEPART.MENT. 

THE CITY GOVERNMENT. 

■npHE Charter of the City of Bridgeport has been amended and rewritten so many times since the 
•'■ original enactment, in 1S36, that little of that beside the title remains. As delivered to the 
fathers at that time, it constituted the Mayor, Aldermen and Common Councilmen to be a Court 
of Common Council, for the government of the city in such things, in addition to the former Town 
Government, as its increasing size and its increasing necessities demanded. The said "Court of 
Common Council " was to consist of a Mayor, four Aldermen, and not more than twenty Common 
Councilmen, a City Clerk, a Treasurer, and two wSheriffs, who were to be elected on the first Monday in 
October, at an annual city meeting, all except the Mayor to hold office till their successors qualified, 
and the Mayor to do the same, " unless removed by the General Assembly." The Court of Common 
Council met as one body, and that was the make-iip of the City Government for nearly twenty years. 

On July 16, 1854, Mayor John Brooks announced to the Council that the Legislature had granted 
the petition of the citizens for an alteration of the City Charter and that, therein, "the mode of 
procedure in laying out highways has been very much altered and improved." 

The new Charter .seems to have answered very well for a 
considerable time. In 1873 the number of Aldermen had been 
increased from four to six, and there were eighteen Councilmen, 
or si.K from each of the three wards into which the city was then 
divided, all meeting as one body. In 1885 the Council was 
divided by Charter amendment into two Boards, which were to 
meet separately and act independently upon all matters. Tlie 
city was divided into si.K wards, and one Alderman and three 
Councilmen were elected annually from each ward. In addition 
to this, six Aldermen at Large were chosen, making an Alder- 
manic Board of eighteen. A Board of Public Works was also 
established in place of the previously existing Board of Road 
and Bridge Commissioners. 



CONSOLIDATION. 




I 



Seal of the City of Bridgeport. 
Designed by Julian H. Sterling. 



In March, 18S9, the City and Town Governments were 
consolidated and the Charter revised in conformity with the 

requirements of that act. The City of New London, which was situated very much the same as was 
Bridgeport, with a dual government, city and town, covering practically the same territory, had 
consolidated a few years before, and had found the one government an improvement on the two. 
Bridgeport was the second city in the State to adopt that form, which has since been copied 
extensively. The Charter of Bridgeport was also amended that year, to admit of the taking in of 
West Stratford, which was done on April 18, 1889. 

Bridgeport as a borough had been still a portion of the Town of Stratford. When set off as a 
town by herself in 1821, her eastern boundary had been the Yellow ^lill Stream, and her western 
limit. Division street, or Park avenue, until 1870, when by act of the Legislature, the line was extended 
west to Ash creek, and the Black Rock district was annexed. The act of 18S9 extended the eastern 
boundary to Brace's brook, and the Borough of West Stratford was taken in. 



i 



THE ■■STAXDARD-S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



5 7 



Bridgeport, then, for the first time in her corporate existence, had a territory somewhat 
commensurate with her population and importance. 

The Charter of Bridgeport was again amended in 1893, making the terms of office of the ^Mayur, 
City Clerk, Treasurer, Collector of Taxes, six Aldermen at Large, one Councilman for each ward (six), 
seven Sheriffs, a Town Clerk and two Registrates of Voters for each ward, to be for two years, and 
providing that at annual elections for other officers, one Alderman and one Councilman should be elected 
for each ward for two years, thus making the Boards of Aldermen and Councilmen to consist of twelve 
members each, six to go cut annually from each Board, leaving six old members constantly on each. 
Under this amended Charter, Walter B. Bostwick was elected in April, 1893, Mayor for two years. 




Hon. James C. Loomis. 
Hon P. T. Barnum. 
Hon. John L. Wessel.s. 

NINE EX;-XIAVORS. 



Hon. Jaratt Morford. 
Hon. Robert T. Clarl* 
Hon. K. E. DeForest. 



The Charter was further amended in 1893, by the constitution of a Board of Apportionment and 
Taxation, to have charge of the expenditure of the public monies, the appropriations for the various 
city Boards and the fixing of the tax rate. No more judicious addition to the corps of city officials was 
ever made. 

In 1894 the Charter was again revised, and among other changes the two Councilmanic Boards 
were abolished. The example of other and larger cities was followed in the establishment of a 
single Board to consist of twenty Aldermen serving two years, ten going off each year, so as to leave 
ten experienced members constantly on the Board. As experience had demonstrated that the voting 



58 THE -STAXDARD-S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

population could not ahvavs be accommodated under the old arrano-ement of six wards, the city was 
divided into twelve voting- districts, thus ailording ample accommodation for all. 



Since the establishment of the City Government in 1S36, the following Mayors have held office: 
Isaac Sherman, Jr. (elected in October), 1836; Daniel Sterling, 1837; Alanson Hamlin, 1S38; 
Charles Foote, 1839; Charles Bostwick, 1S40 ; \Vm. P. Burrall, (part) 1841 ; James C. Loomis, 
1841-42-43-44; Henry K. Harrall, 1845-46; Sherwood Sterling, 1847-48; Henry K. Harrall, 1849-50; 
John Brooks, Jr., 1851; Henry K. Harrall, 1852; Charles Benjamin Hubbell, 1853; John Brooks, Jr., 
1854; Philo C. Calhoun, 1855-56-57; Silas C. Booth, 1858-59; Daniel H. Sterling, 1860-61-62; Clapp 
Spooner, 1863; Jaratt Morford, 1S64; Stillman S. Clapp, 1865; Monson Hawley, 1866-67 -, Jaratt 
Morford, 1868; Monson Hawley, 1869; Jaratt Morford (elected in April), 1870; Epaphras B. Goodsell, 
1871-72-73; Robert T. Clarke, 1874; Phineas T. Barnum, 1875; Jaratt Morford, 1876-77; Robert E. 
DeForest, 1878; John L. Wessels, 1879-81-83; Daniel E. Morgan, 1880; Carlos Curtis, 1882; Daniel 
E. Morgan, 1884; Henry H. Pyle, 1885; Civilion Fones, 1886-87; Patrick Coughlin, 1888; Robert E. 
DeForest, 1889-90; William H. Marigold, 1891-92; Walter B. Bostwick (the first elected for two 
years), 1893; Frank E. Clark, 1895; Thomas P. Taylor, 1897. 

Since, and including i860, at eighteen city elections. Democratic Mayors have been chosen, and 
at seventeen elections, Republican Mayors. 

Under the present Charter the City Government is organized as follows: 

A Mayor, Auditor, City Clerk, Treasurer, Collector of Taxes, City Attorney, Board of Aldermen 
(twenty members), and the following Boards and Commissions: Sinking Fund Commission, Fire 
Commission, Park Commission, Board of Public Works, Police Commission, Board of Assessors, 
Board of Relief, Board of Health, Board of Charities, Library Board, Building Commission, Registrars 
of Voters, Town Clerk, Selectmen, Board of Apportionment and Taxation, Board of Appraisal of 
Benefits and Damages, Board of Education. The retaining of the Town Clerk and vSelectmen from 
the old Town Government is a requirement of the State Constitution. The City has also a City Court 
with Judge and Deputy Judge, and a full corps of minor officials, including six City vSheriffs. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

Bridgeport was set apart from Stratford as a separate town in 182 1. Up to that time vStratford 
had sent two Representatives to the Legislature annually. In 1S21 these were Wilson Hawley and Asa 
Curtis. In 1822 Stratford appears with only one, and Bridgeport is represented for the first time. 
Her Representative was General Enoch Foote, and his successors have been as follows: 

1823, Joseph Backus: 1824, William Peet; 1825, William DeForest; 1826, Noah Plumb; 1827, 
Smith Tweedy; 1S28, Thomas C. Worden; 1829, Smith Tweedy; 1830, Samuel Simons; 1831, Enoch 
Foote; 1832, Noah Plumb; 1833, Smith Tweedy; 1834, Noah Plumb; 1835, Daniel O. Wheeler; 
1836, Smith Tweedy; 1837, Wni. S. Pomeroy; 1838, Henry Dutton; 1839, Henry Dutton; 1840, 
Joseph Thompson; 1841, James Fitch; 1842, Abijah Hawley; 1843, vSherwood Sterling; 1844, 
Alexander Hamilton ; 5845, Dwight Morris; 1846, Joseph F. Crosby ; 1847, Joshua Lord; 1848, Henry 
T. Higgins; 1849, Silas C. Booth; 1850, Wm. S. Pomeroy; 1851, Wyllys Lyon; 1852, Wyllys Lyon; 
1853, Joseph F. Crosby; 1854, Thomas F. Oakley; 1855, Silas C. Booth; 1856, James C. Loomis; 
1857, Philo C. Calhoun; 1858, Amos S. Treat; 1859, A. A. Pettingill; i860, James C. Loomis; 1S61, 
George W. Bacon; 1862, iVmos S. Treat; 1863, Russel Tomlin.son; 1864, Dwight Morris; 1865, 
Samtiel Larkin; 1866, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1867, George Mallory; 1868, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1869, 
Amos S. Treat; 1870, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1871, Wm. D. Bishop; 1872, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1873. 
Goodwin Stoddard; 1874, Robert Hubbard ; 1875 (Bridgeport had two members), David B. Lockwood, 
Carlos Curtis; 1876, George W. Bacon, Robert Hubbard; 1877, George W. Bacon, Carlos Curtis; 
1878, Phineas T. Barnum, Stephen Nichols; 1879, Phineas T. Barnum, Amos S. Treat; 1880, Dwight 
Morris, John Saxton; 18S1, David M. Read, Robert E. DeForest; 1882, A. H. Abernethy, P. W. 
Wren; 1883, D. N. Morgan, D. B. Lockwood: 18S4, Wm. H. Noble, A. M. Talhnadge; 1885, John J. 
Phelan, L. M. Slade; 1886, John J. Phelan, Henry A. Bishop; 1887, Patrick Coughlin, George 
Watson; 1889 (two year terms), John N. Near, Louis Kutscher; 1891, Fredk. .S. Stevens, Louis 



THE •• STAXDAkiyS' HISTORY OF BRHHU-I'ORT. 



59 



Kutscher; 1S93. Morris B. Beardslcy, John Walsh; 1895, Edward \V. Marsh, Charles Keller; 1897, 
Matthew H, Ri)yers, George E. Somers. 

SENATORS FROM BRIDGEPORT. 

Bridgeport has sent to the State Senate since the districting of the State in 1S30, the following 
persons: 

1S33, Philip A. Cannon: 1837, J. C. Loomis; 1841, Noah Plumb; 1845, A. A. Pettingill; 1850, 
H K. Harrall; 1851, Wm. P. Burrall: 1858, Sidney B. Beardsley; 1859, P. C.Calhoun; 1866, W. D. 
Bishop; 1873, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1874, Nathaniel Wheeler; 1877, Wm. D. Bishop; 1878, Wm. D. 
Bishop; 1879, Russel Tomlinson; 1880, Russel Tomlinson: 1881, Morris W. Seymour; 1882, Morris 
W. Seymour; 1883, R. E. DeForest; 1885, D. N. Morgan; 1887, E. G. Burnham; 1889, D. M. Read; 
1891, D. M. Read; 1S93, D. N. Morgan; 1895, Wm. H. Marigold; 1897, Wm. H. Marigold. 

I- HE COUNTY. 

The County Commissioners are: Henry Lee, Bridgeport: Whitman S. Mead, Greenwich; James 
E. Miller, Redding. County Treasurer, Tallmadge Baker, Norwalk. Coroner, Charles A. Doten, 
Bridgcp irt. Medical Examiner, Dr F. B. Downs, Bridgeport. Sheriff, Sidney B. Hawley, Brook- 
field. Deputies, Peter Doolan, Jr., (ieorge Heisler, Jr., Bridgeport. 

I'ROllATF. l)ISlRU:r. 

The Bridgeport Probate District embraces the towns of Bridgep(jrt, Easton, Monroe and 
Trumbull. The Judge is Albert M. Tallmadge. 

T)1E CITY COURT. 

The City Court was provided for in the original Charter of the City (1836), and the Mayor was 
Judge, and the two Alderman first chosen, Assistant Judges. This was amended the same year, 
providing for the choice of a Recorder by the Common Council instead of the Mayor. In 1S55 
another a'uendment provided for the election, on the City Ticket, annually, of a Recorder and two 
assistants. In 1868 the Court was reorganized and the existing constitution adopted. It provides for 
a Judge, a Deputy Judge, and other officers of a Court of Law. Its civil jurisdiction extends to all 
cases in law and equity, where the matter in demand does not exceed $500, and where the parties 
reside within the city limits. 

Its criminal jurisdiction embraces all cases of crimes and misdemeanors committed within the 
city, the punishment whereof does not exceed a fine of §200, or imprisonment in the common jail for 
six months, or both. Since 1869 the Judges and Deputy Judges have been: vSamuel B. Sumner, 
Judge, 1869, to August; David B. Lockwood, Judge, 1869, Deputy Curtis Thompson; Israel M. 
Bullock, Judge, 1870 to 1873, Deputies, M. W. Seymour {1870), L. N. Middlebrook (1871), Curtis 
Thompson (1872 and 1873). .Stephen S. Blake, Judge, 1873 to 1877, Deputies, D. B. Lockwood (1S76), 
W. R. Shelton (1877). A. B. Beers, Judge, 1877 to 1893. Deputies, F. L. Holt (1877 to 1879), A. M. 
Tallmadge (1879 to 1881), Charles A. Doten (1S81 to 1887), William H. Kelsey (1887 to 1893). J. J. 
Rose, Judge, died 1893, succeeded by Patrick Kane, Judge, 1893 to 1895, no Deputy. George P. 
Carroll, Judge, 1895 to 1897, present incumbent, reappointed for a second term (1897 to 1899), by the 
Legislature of 1897, Deputy (for both terms) William H. Comley. 

CITY ATTORNEY. 

The original City Charter (1836) provided for a City Attorney, and that position has been growing 
in importance as the city has increased and as municipal affairs have become more and more compli- 
cated and extensive. The following gentlemen have occupied the position of Legal Adviser to the 
City (iovernment .since tlie establishment ot the office: Alanson Hamlin, 1836-38; Henry Dutton, 
1839-41; James C. Loomis, 1842-43; Dwight jNIorris, 1844-46; James C. Loomis, 1847-48; E. S. 
Abernethy, 1849; James C. Loomis, 1850-57; Henry T. Blake, 1858; George W. Warner, 1S59-60; 
Wm. K. Seeley, 1861-63; Samuel B. Sumner, 1868; Wm. K. Seeley, 1869; vSamuel B. Sumner, 
1S70-71; Morris W^ Seymour, 1872-73: Henry S. Sanford, 1874; I. M. Bullojk, 1875; Goodwin 



6o 



THE •' STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



Stoddard, 1^76-77-78; Curtis Thompson, 1879: David B. Lockwood, 1880, Curtis Tliompson, 1881-82; 
Robert E. DeForest, 1883; Charles Sherwood, 1884; Robert E. DeForest, 1885; David B. Lockwood, 
1886; Curtis Thompson, 1887-88; John J. Phelan, 1889; George W. Wheeler, 1890-91; Howard H. 
Knapp, 1892; Daniel Davenport, 1S93-94; Jeremiah D. Toomey. Jr., 1895-96; Alfred B. Beers, the 
present incumbent. 

POLILK. 

The Police Force of the city, at present effective and satisfactory, was evolved through the slow 
processes of experience and necessity from the "Watch" of the earh- days. It was customary to 
make special Constables of a considerable number of prominent, able-bodied citizens, every year, as it 
was to appoint a large number to be firemen, but the employing of men to do police duty vi'as a later 
matter and one not so readily entered upon. 

In November, 1844, Dwight Morris and .S. ^I. Middlebrook were constituted a committee on 
"Watch Wardens" (the forerunners of the present Police Commissioners), whose duty it was "to 
employ at such times as they shall deem advisable, any suitable number of persons to serve as 
Watchmen " for preserving the peace, and for the protection of property against fire. These 
"Watchmen " were to receive from the city "not to exceed one dollar each per night." 

Even this seems to have been an intermittent and not a steady institution. But in 1848 the Night 
Watch were also made special Constables, and give certain police functions, and their employment 
was quite regular. A watch house, or station, was also established in the cellar of a brick building on 
the corner of Bank and Water streets, and so the visible belongings and appurtenances of a Police 
Department were set up about fifty years ago. 

The Police Department of Bridgeport is a well organized, well managed and very effective portion 
of the City Government. The ofificers of the Department are chosen for their fitness and demonstrated 
worth, and to become a member of the force a man must pass a very fair but strict physical and 
mental examination. Once on, and doing good duty, he can be removed "for cause" only, and his 
pay is sufficient to compensate for good and faithful services. The police office, a central station, is 
under the City Hall, entrance on the south side. The Police Department is under the control of the 
Police Commissioners, who make the rules governing the conduct of the force, hear complaints, attend 
to infractions of duty, nominate new men when voted by the Council for the force, and can try and 
remove existing members for sufficient cause. 

The roster of the force consists of a Superintendent. Captain, Captain of Detectives, Lieutenant, 
First and Second Sergeant, one Roundsman, two Doormen, one Truant Officer, one Acting Court 
Officer and thirty-five Patrolmen on actual duty, making a total of forty-five men. The Department 
has the most complete electric Police Signal System extant, which adds greatly to its efficiency. It 
also has a patrol wagon always ready for immediate use. 



CHAPTER Xlll. 

THE UAR OK HRII)i;F.PORT. I.ECAL LUiHTS OK IHE I'AiT. THE COURT HOUSE COMES TO THE CITY. 

THE OI.I) AM) NEW BUILDINGS. THE .MEDICAL PROFESSION. STATE AND COUNl V ASSOCIA ITONS. 

THE HOSPITAL.— NEWSPAPERS, PASr AND PRESEN I . 

THE brid(;eport bar. 

I ()XG before Bridgeport had become .sufficiently a business center to attract the expounders of the 
'^ law, and to hold out for them the possibilities most desirable to that profession, Fairfield County 
had become well known for its legal lights. Starting with such men as Roger Ludlow, who left Fair- 
field for Virginia in 1654, but not until he had impressed upon the colony something of the peculiarities 
of his vigorous personality, there was hardly a time when the county had not more than one really 
eminent man among the members of its bar, and frequently there were half a dozen. Some among 
these came to Bridgeport after a while, but, as has been said, Bridgeport held out few inducements 
until after the period of the second war with England. In the county such towns as Fairfield, Stratford, 
Westport, Danbury, Norwalk, and even Newtown, produced and supported very excellent lawyers. 
Samuel B. Sherwood (1767-1833) lived in Westport. Eliphalet Swift (1780-1857), born in Windham, 
also came to Westport to settle and practice. Thomas Belden Butler, born in Wethersfield, practiced 
law in Norwalk. Gideon Tomlinson, born in Stratford in 1781, was a member of the Legislature from 
Fairfield, then Governor of the State, then Congressman for several terms, then United States Senator, 
and finally died full of honors and years, at (Greenfield Hill, in 1854. Henry Dutton, Governor of 
Connecticut in 1854, Judge of the Supreme Court in 1861, was in Bridgeport from 1837 to 1847 in 
practice, and he seems t<> have been able to endure the place for ten j-ears. It is possible that there 
was a method in Mr. Dutton's procedure not at first sight apparent, for we read that in the years 1838 
and 1839 Henry Dutton was elected to the Legislature from Bridgeport. Joseph Backus had been 
there from the same town too, fifteen years before, and it may have been a habit of the Bridgeport 
people thus to employ a, presumably, not overworked attorney. P>x-Governor Dutton died in 1869 in 
New Haven, where he had been professor of law in Yale College. Isaac Toucey, an able lawyer and 
Secretary of the Navy for President Buchanan, was born in Newtown, November 5, 1796, and died in 
1869. Roger Minot Sherman, eminent jurist and judge, commenced the practice of law in Norwalk, 
but moved to Fairfield, where he lived and prospered many years. He was born in Woburn, Mass., in 
1773, and died in Fairfield, 1844. Then there were Lyman D. Brewster, Roger Averill, Charles 
Hawley, and when, later, we come down to the men who at last found Bridgeport endurable, if not 
everything that the legal heart could desire, there were Isaac M. Sturges (1807-1877), .Sidney B. 
Beardsley, Dwight Morris, James C. Loomis, Amos S. Treat, Wm. H. Noble, Frederick Frye, and 
many more. In 1814 one Joseph Backus had gained the credit of turning aside a most "remarkable 
plan " for capturing a British vessel off the harbor of Bridgeport, and it looks as if, in the lack of 
strictly legitimate practice, he stirred up strife of most any kind that promised him the exercise which 
his legal temperament required. Whether there were, at that time, any other lawyers in Bridgeport 
or not, we can not say, but "Squire Backus" was quite enough for one small town. It was he who 
drafted the Borough Charter in 1800, and proclaimed the fact with a fierce challenge to all who dared 
to doubt, as late as in 1822, so that he must have lived in Bridgeport for many years. In 1849-1850 
the list of attorneys-at-law in Bridgeport is given in the state register as follows: Elisha S. Abernethy, 
S. B. Beardsley, Wm. P. Burrall, Henry T. Higgins, Francis Ives, James C. Loomis, Mark Moore, 
Dwight Morris, Wm. H. Noble, Isaac M. Sturges, and George W. Warner. The last named, Mr. Warner, 
is the sole survivor to-day. Ten years later, in i860, this list was enlarged by the names of Henry T. 
Blake, Frederick Chittenden, Frederick Frye, James L. Gould, David F. Hollister, L. N. Middlebrook, 



62 THE " STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH)GEFORT. 

William K. Seelev and Amos S. Treat, but Mr. \\m. P. Biirrall, Henry T. Hitigins and Mark Moore 
had dropped out. 

From that time on, the bar of Bridgeport took its share of honors, and holds them to-day. Of the 
last list Sidney B. Beardsley, James C. Loomis, I. M. Sturges, David F. Hollister, Wm. K. Seeley and 
Amos vS. Treat were to win abundant honors in their profession for themselves and their city, while 
Wm. H. Noble, Frederick Frye, L. N. ^Middlebrook and Dwight Morris were to give the best years of 
their vigorous manhood to the cause of the Union, sacrificing therein professionally, what coidd never 
be again entirely regained. Of the list of i860 only five now (1897) remain: Messrs. Warner, Blake, 
Gould, Hollister and jMiddlebrook. Mr. Blake resides in New Haven. 

Fairfield was the first county seat, and there, in 1720, was erected the first court house, a wooden 
structure, burned when the town was raided by the British in 1779, and rebuilt in 1794. But in 1853 
the growth of Bridgeport and its commerical importance asserted themselves, and the courts were 
removed to that city, which has ever since shared with Danbury the honor of being a shire town. The 
building which is now the City Hall, was Bridgeport's first Court House. It was built by a committee 
consisting of James C. Loomis, Henry K. Harrall, Hanford Lyon, Philo C. Calhoun, John Brooks, Jr., 

Lemuel Coleman and William S. Knowlton, who 

, were authorized "to erect on the lot between 

State and Bank streets, on the east side of the 

public square, a building of such form and dimen- 

_. . _ sions as may be deemed by them necessary and 

proper for a Town Hall and Town Clerk's office 
* * * and suitable rooms with the necessary 
fi.xtures therein for the accommodation of the 
courts of Fairfield County, together with a fire- 
proof vault for the safe custody and preservation 
of the public records. " * * * The same com- 
mittee was also empowered to purchase a site and 
build thereon a jail. This latter building was 
erected on Broad street, near South avenue by the 
Committee, and in 1854 was accepted by the town 
and turned over to the county authorities. The 
jail proved inadequate very soon and a new one 
was erected on North avenue, which has been 
First Court House. - Now City Hall. since enlarged and improved, and is now very 

satisfactory. 
The committee built the Town Hall and Court House on the designated site, and then acquired 
land on the east side, running through from street to street, corresponding with the " Public Green " 
upon the west. The new building was opened and occupied in 1855, a portion of it duly transferred 
tu the county authorities and the committee dismissed with thanks. The Hon. H. K. Harrall, of the 
committee, had died since its formation. 




A NEW COURT HOUSE. 

Although expected to be sufficient for "all time, " the new building soon proved inadequate for 
the growing business of the town and county. 

It is a dignified and somewhat impressive building in its massive outlines, and though extending 
from State street through to Bank street, it was soon found not to be either so commodious or so 
convenient as was desired, while its proximity to the business streets with their inevitably increasing 
noises, became a source of great annoyance to the courts, especially after the introduction of tlie street 
cars into the city. Meetings were held in 1886 by members of the County Bar Association and the 
county representatives, at which it was decided that another and more suitable Court House was 
necessary. At one of these meetings it was agreed that a new Court House should be built if the county 
would release to the town of Bridgeport its rights in the old Court House. Norwalk was in the field 
and had offered to appropriate $100, 000 for a Court House, if located there, and the two towns, Norwalk 
and Bridgeport, took their differ jnces to the Legislature. On Marcli 3, 18.S6, Bridgeport, in town 



I 



THE -STAXDARirs HISTOKV OF BRIDGEPORT. 



63 



iiieetint^, voted ti.) appropriate §150,000 tu build the new Court House, and shortly afterwards the 
Legislature decided in favor of Bridgeport by act approved April S, 1S86. 

That event was celebrated by a banquet at the Atlantic Hotel, in Bridgeport, on April 9th. A 
site was selected on the rising ground near the northwest corner of Golden Hill and Main streets, then 
occupied by the residence of Jacob Keifer, Esq. llr. Keifer's house was moved to the rear, facing on 
Chapel street, and on the site thus secured, the 
new Court House was erected. On July 28, i8cS6, 
the design and draw-ings of Warren R. Briggs, 
architect, were chosen in competition, and an ex- 
ternally elegant building, admirabh- adapted to 
its purposes, was the result. The corner stone was 
laid June 24, 1887. In selecting the site, in the 
construction of the building, and in expending the 
money appropriated, the town was represented bj' 
a committee consisting of the following gentle- 
men: Hon. Sidney B. Beardsley, Hon. Nathaniel 
Wheeler, Emery F. Strong, Hon. P. T. Barnuni, 
Hon. David M. Read and Samuel B. Sumner, 
together with the Board of CoimtyCommissioners, 
consisting of Nathan M. Belden, of Wilton, Charles 
B. Wheeler, of Bridgeport, and John O. Paige, of 
Sherman. 

The new building was completed and first 
occupied in 1888, and it has the reputation of be- 
ing the most elegant and conveniently arranged 
Court House in the State. Its location is conven- 
ient to the business streets, and yet removed from 
the noises of traffic, and everj- branch of the 
judiciary is well accommodated. The bar library 
is a fine and well appointed room, and a great 
stimulus has been given to that important institu- 
tion. There are between fifty and sixty attorneys- 
at-Iaw in Bridgeport, and nearly all of them belong 
to the Bridgeport Bar Association, the purposes 

of which are to encourage brotherly feeling among the members, and to give a banquet every year. 
A. B. Beers is President and Wm. H. Kelsey Secretary of this organization. 

THE .MEDICAL PROFESSION. 

Tm-; F.AiRriKi.i) Countv Mkdic.al Sociktv dates back, by virtue 
of its records, to 1826, and is not, therefore, so old as other county 
societies in the State, particularly those of New Haven and New 
London, which were in existence in 1784. But there are very strong 
names in the membership of the Fairfield County Society, and, 
to-day, in point of professional standing, it is the equal of any 
similar association in the State. Organizing when Bridgeport had 
grown to be quite an important towm. and just before she took upon 
herself the dignity of a full-fledged city, the Society was influenced 
Entrance to Curt House. largely by Bridgeport members, and among its "Moderators" or 

" Presidents " are quite a number of Bridgeport names. As far 

back as 1843 we find Samuel Simons Moderator of the Society, and, in 1873, Robert Hubbard; in 1880, 

Curtis H. Bill, and since that time Doctors J. W. Wright, A. J. Smith, Robert Lauder, George L. 

Porter, F. M. Wilson and others, have been its Presidents. Dr. Robert Hubbard was also President 

of the State Medical Society in 1877. 

The Bridgeport Medical Association was organized in 1S64, anJ in 1867 presented the following 




Kairfield County Court House. 




64 



THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



roll of membership: Robert Hubbard, G. Ohnesorg, J. R. Gumming, G. L. Porter, G. L. Beers, 
G. F. Lewis, A. H. Abernethy, E. Gregory, E. H. Winslow, vSetli Hill and R. M. Gray. The Society 
languished for a time owing, doubtless, to the fact that the county and vState societies furnished all the 
advantages to be derived from association, but as the city increased in size and the number of 
physicians multiplied I'apidly, it was reorganized in 1871, and now shows a list of over forty 
members, a considerable niimber of whom have been officers of the Society at one time and another. 
The Society has a room in the Barnum Institute, which was left to it by the will of the founder, the 
late P. T. Barnum. 

There is no local homeopathic society in Bridgeport, but five of her homeopathic physicians are 
members of the State Homeopathic Society, and most of them have held offices therein. Dr. Charles 
E. Sanford, the oldest representative of that school of medicine in Bridgeport, has held several offices 
in the State Society, and was for several years president of the Bridgeport Board of Health. 

There are several eclectic physicians but no society in the city. The entire list of registered 
physicians and surgeons numbers (1896) one hundred and one, and all must register to be allowed to 

practice. There are si.x female prac- 
titioners on the list. 

THE BRIDG?:P()RT HOSPrrAL. 

The observant traveler passing 
throught Bridgeport on the cars, 
would be impressed chiefly by the 
magnitude and number of the large 
manufacturing concerns that border 
both sides of the line, but he would 
note one noble and prominent struc- 
ture, standing on a hill to the north 
of the road on the east side, which 
could not be classed among the manu- 
factories or mills. It is the Bridge- 
port Hospital, and it is a sign of pro- 
gress as well as of philanthropy of 
which the appreciative Bridgeporter 
is properly proud. Through the in- 
fluence of Dr. George F. Lewis, Mrs. 
Susan Hubbell, a relative, was in- 
duced to donate one acre of ground 
and $13,500 for hospital purposes. In 
various ways this amount of money was increased to $50,000, when the State added 1150,000 more, 
and in January, 1878, the hospital was organized. The present building was erected and was opened 
m 1884, having cost more than $too,ooo. Since that time it has been assisted in a number of ways, by 
the building of a children's ward, by the addition of a scientific operating room, by the endowment of 
free beds, and by bequests of money for general purposes, till its capacity for good work has been 
greatly enlarged. It is a well equipped institution, and the amount of good that it does is very great. 
A tablet in the main hall records the names of those who have given considerable sums to the institution. 
Its corps of nurses, physicians, etc., is full and effective, and its record is excellent. Among the notable 
cases on the records of this institution is one of the giving of sight to a person forty-nine years of age, 
who had been born blind. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Bridgeport has, and has had, its full complement of newspapers and like publications, and has 
never failed to exploit itself at all stages of its corporate career, through the medium of printers' ink. 
It owes a large amount of its prosperity, beyond question, to the thorough advertising which its 
advantages have received throught the columns of the press. 

Its first newspaper was The American Telegraph and Fairfield County Gazette, begun in 1795, ^"d 
issued weekly by Lazarus Beach, corner of Wall and Water .streets. It had a (not sworn) circulation 




idgeport Hospital. 



THE ••STAXDARIfS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 65 

of 800 copies at §1.50 per year, and was delivered all over the county liy post riders. It ran for about 
ten years and there are many copies of it extant, which reflect the condition of trade in those days, 
through its advertising columns. 

The next venture was T/ic Bridgeport Herald, by Samuel Mallory, which had a brief existence, 
and copies of which are quite rare. 

Then came Tlic Bridgeport Advertiser, Hezekiah Ripley, 1806; T/ie Connecticut Courier, Nathan 
L. Skinner, 1810; The Connecticut Patriot, L. Bradley & Co., 1826 and Tlie Spirit of the Tunes, anti- 
Masonic, Geo. W. vSmith, Jr., 1831. Copies of these publications can be occasionally picked up. 

The Bridgeport Republican was started in 1830, by Edmond Fanton. This was the predecessor of 
The Standard. About 1839 Mr. Fanton sold his material to A. A. Pcttingill, who shortly after (1839) 
began The Republican Standard. In 1848 Julius S. Hanover was taken into the concern, and it was 
known as Pettingill & Hanover until sold out to J. D. Candee in 1863. 

In 1853 a tri-weekly edition was issued, and in 1854 The Standard became a daily. 

The Bridgeport Chronicle was issued in 1848 by B. H. Munson, and The Bridgeport Leader, T. M. 
Clark, about the same time. Both were short lived. Mr. Clark became sub.sequently editor of the 
/ Vinsted Herald. 

The Republican Fanner was started in Bridgeport in 1810, by Stiles Xichols, who bought it from 
Danbury, where it had been published since 1803. It became a daily in 1850 under the late Wm. S. 
Pomeroy. It was subsequently under the management of James L. Gould and Henry B. Stiles at the 
corner of Wall and Water streets, and, later still, in the Waller building, No. 21 Fairfield avenue. Mr. 
Gould left the concern a few years ago, and it has since been incorporated, H. B. Stiles, President and 
Floyd Tucker, Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Tucker is Editorial Manager and is a iournalist of large 
experience and ability. 

The Leader was started in 1870 by Franklin Sherwood, John N. Near and Frank A. Whiting. 
Mr. Sherwood subsequently obtained possession of the paper, and still publishes its successor, TIte 
Independent Leader, No. 321 Water street, a weekly, devoted to local nuinici])al matters and the 
perpetuation of the old Bridgeport records. 

'V\\Q Morning Neivs, started by Major Henry M. Hoyt in 1874, ran for a few weeks and then 
suspended. In 1879 Major Hoyt again launched the paper, and conducted it until the date of his death 
in 1885. In that year Mr. L. C. Prindle came into possession of the paper and has conducted it ever 
since, changing later into the evening field. 

The Evening Post was started in 1883 by G. W. Hills, and in 1885 Mr. H. M. Hills was made a 
partner. It was published in the Winton block, on Main street, in 1885, subsequently removed across 
the street to Nos. 1 15 and 1 1 7 Middle, and thence to its new building on Cannon street, opened in 1892. 
A morning edition, The Morning Telegram, is issued from the same office. In 1891 the Post Publish- 
ing Co. was incorporated. President, G. W. Hills; \'ice- President, W. H. Comley; Secretary, F. W. 
Holande; Treasurer, R. N. Blakeslee. 

The Morning Union, published daily by the Union Publishing Co. , was incorporated in 1892. It 
is issued from Nc. 105 .State street. 

The Bridgeport Sunday Herald — with a Waterbury edition — covers the western section of the 
State. It is published from No. 35 Middle street, by F. R. Swift. 



d 



i inTfiTiii I i I ! 1 1 



CHAPTER XIV. 





THE PARKS OF l;Kl Ik; EPC IR T. THE PUiiLIC i;RELN. \V ASH 1N( noN PARK. SEASIDE PARK, ITS INCEPTION, 

DEVELOPMENT AND COST. PEARDSLEV PARK A SPLENDID (;IKT. OTHER PARKS ABOUT THE CITY. 

NOTES IN CONNECTION WITH THE PARKS. 

"THE PUBLIC GREEX." 

'T^HE Borough of Bridgeport, on February 9, 1807, bought of vSalmon Hubbell that "piece or parcel 

of land, lying and being situate in said Bridgeport, containing one-quarter of an acre, be the 

same more or less, and bounded easterly on Daniel Fayerweather's land, southwardly and westwardly 

and northwardly on highways, to be laid 

open, kept and maintained as a public high- 
(•». ,, ^., way forever. " The " public highway " in 

this case was a pretense, for the said " piece 

or parcel" was never used for highway pur- 
poses, but is the lot of open land lying west 

of the present City Hall, and further 

bounded on State, Broad and Bank streets. 

^Vhen the City Hall was built, this land 

Seaside Park. WaS not encroachcd upon, but the little Ueardsley Park. 

"Green" has been, in effect, a public 
park ever since; although not recognized as a part of the park system of the city, and being only a 
portion of the City Hall lot. 

WASHINCTON PARK. 

In 1851 Wm. H. Noble and 
P. T. Barnum, in the opening up 
of their property in East Bridge- 
]ji)rt. in what had been the " Xew 
Pasture Lots," set aside a tract of 
land of four acres in extent, to be 
used as a public park, and thus to 
render more attractive for resi- 
dential purposes the remainder of 
the territory. While it remained 
openand thus used asa "common, " 
it was not formal!}' transferred to 
the city till 1865, when a deed was 
given and the Common Council 
accepted the gift under the title 
"Washington Park." An appro- 
priation of $r,ooo was made for 
fencing and improving this park, 
and Wm. H. Perry, Charles A. 
Hotchkiss and Nathaniel Wheeler 
were appointed Commissioners in charge of the improvements. This park remains a monument to the 
public spirit and foresight of the men who gave it to the city. It is bounded on the north by Barnum 
avenue, on the west by Noble avenue, on the south by East Washington avenue and on the east by 
Kossuth street. It is surrounded bv some of the finest residences on the east side, and four 




TIIH •• STAXDARDS" HISTORY OF BR/DGLI'ORT. 



67 



churches, the Park Street Congregational, Washington Park M. E.. St. Paul's Episcopal, and the 
East Washington Avenue Baptist Church, look upon it. 

It is laid out in converging walks, with a band stand in the central space, and it has a fine growth 
of native forest trees, which were standing upon it when it was first selected for park purposes. 
Being in a central location, and easily accessible, it is a great benefit to that iiortion of the citv. 



-KASIDE l'.\RK. 



In the year 1862, previous to its departure for the seat of war, the 17th Connecticut Volunteer 
Regiment encamped on the land south of the city bordering upon the sound, known as Seaside Park. 
It was then all farming bind, but its fine location fronting on the sea was very delightful. Thousands 
visited it at that time, and afterward, when various other special attractions called them there, and in 
1863 and thereafter, articles in the Bridgeport Daily Standard pointed out the beauty and popularity 
of the place, and urged upon the city the propriety and advantage of securing so exceptionally well 
located a tract for park purposes. 

P. T. Barnum and James C. Loomis were the first to move in the matter. In 1S64 a survey was 




Pembroke I'ark. 



He.-irdslev Park. 



Seaside Park. 



Iteardslev Park. 



made by E. R. Lambert and (ieorgc Bcckwith and a map drawn of the propo.sed area, thirty-five acres 
in all, thirteen of which were in ]-5ridgeport and the remainder in Fairfield. In 1865 a committee was 
appointed by the Common Council, consisting of Nathaniel Wheeler, Frederick Hurd and Eli Thomp- 
son, to examine into the matter, and these gentlemen reported favorably upon a proposition of the 
owners of the land, Captains John Brooks and Burr Knapp, and Messrs. George Bailey and P. T. 
Barnum, to convey the land to the city free of charge, provided that it be used perpetually for a public 
park; and they also reported the contribution of $2,720 by some si.xty individuals and business firms 
for the purchase of additional land. A city meeting was called July 8, 1865, and the Council was 
authorized to accept the deeds of the land and to appropriate a sum not exceeding $10,000 for grading 
and improving the park. The Council formally accepted the deeds August 14, 1865, and appointed 
James C. Loomis, S. S. Clapp and Jacob Keifer, Commissioners of vSeaside Park. 

At the suggestion of General E. R. Viele, of New York, the sea wall around the front of the park 
was begun, the driveway an 1 walk back of the wall laid out, the pond excavated and connected with 
tide water. It was some time before final plans were adopted. In the Daily Standard for January 15, 



68 THE "STAXDARrrS-' HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. 

1867, occurs the following item concerning the park: " In the rooms of Messrs. Lambert «& Bunnell, 
the architects, in Wales bnilding, can be seen an excellent sketch of the proposed Seaside Park. This 
drawing was, we learn, obtained and presented to the Park Commissioners by Mr. Nathaniel Wheeler 
at considerable expense, and is an example of public spirit worthy of special mention. The drawings 
were obtained of the designers and Superintendent of the New York Central Park, and the work was 
done by Messrs. Olmstead, Vaux & Co., artists of New York. The plan is well worthy the attention 
and study of our citizens generally, and particularly of those who have property in the vicinity of the 
park." 

Subsequently, considerable additions were made by gift and purchase, and the area of the park 
was o-reatly extended. In 1872-73, the Commissioners, Messrs. Nathaniel W'heeler, G. B. Waller 
and Albert Eames, reported the total expenses in the purchase of land and in improvements, $77,778.85. 
The following is the table of lands donated to and purchased by the city for Seaside Park, up to and 
including 1870: 

Acres. Rods. Price. 

August 14, 1865. P. T. Barnum 7 10 given. 

" " " John Brooks and wife I . ,, 

■> y 6 57 " 

" " " Burr Knapp " " ) 

" " " George Bailey 7 134 " 

" " " Harry W^heeler, 100 feet wide for an avenue. - " 

Harry Wheeler 7 S5 §2,257.50 

September 22, 1865. J. Brooks and wife. | South end of ]\Iain| - 

" Burr Knapp and wife. [■ street — quantity!.. - given. 

" •' " F. Lathrop and wife. ) not stated. ) - 

" 28, " George Bailey 5 $ 900.00 

29, " " " 8 151 4,470.50 

June 5, 1866. F. Lathrop and wife, west of Main street.... - — 250.00 

" 6, " J. Brooks and wife, west of Main street - — given. 

" 6, " Burr Knapp and wife — quantity not stated.. - — " 

rl. H. Whiting, south of Park Place, beO 

I tween Broad ar^I Main strppt'; — nuan-V 

I tity not stated. 

'• 14, '• John Brooks and Burr Knapp 4 120 1,425.00 

September 8, 1866. Harry Wheeler 2 12S 832.00 

July 12, 1869. P. T. Barnum 3 So given. 

September 14, 1869. Harry Wheeler 2 136 2,843.75 

January 24, 1870. Nathaniel Wheeler 2 80 given. 

$13,478.75 

In 1884 P. T. Barnum gave about thirty acres mure to the park, the gift comprising the land be- 
tween Waldemere avenue and the water, and extending from Iranistan avenue on the east, to Barnum's 
Dyke, at the mouth of Cedar creek, on the west. This was a portion of the land reclaimed by the 
building of the dyke by Mr. Barnum. 

In 1895 Mr. Horace Smith, who had a claim to certain land within the park, south of the north 
line of Waldemere avenue, released his right and title to the city, and so removed all obstruction to 
the improvement of the west end of the park to the dyke. 

In addition to its walks and drives, the park has a handsome band stand, and a fine pier extends 
from the eastern end out over the water. Grounds for athletic sports and the race track, a portion of 
which is a bicycle path, are also available. 

Beyond the park limits, to the east, are b.Uhing pavilions on a very good beach where all facilities 
are afforded. 

A UNlgUF, PARK. 

The whole area of Seaside Park occupies about 125 acres, and it has now a substantial sea wall, for 
most part solid masonry, along its entire front. It is well laid out, and its walks and drives embrace a 
great variety in grove and shrubbery, lawn and water views. 



7, " J tween Broad and Main streets — quan-[... - — 500.00 



THE -STAXDARirS HISTORY OF BRIDOEPORT. 



69 




There is no other park Hke it in the country, so near the city, with miles of walks and drives along 
the shore, where the waves break pleasantly in fine weather, or dash in mig-ht and magnificence 
when driven by the storm. It is intended to extend the sea drive, or bonlevard, to Black Rock, over 
the breakwater to Fayerweather's 
Island, and to thus complete a 
water front that can have few 
rivals anywhere. 

I'.E.\RDSI,F.V P.ARK. 

Beardsley Park, which lies in 

the northwestern part of the city on 

the Pequonnock river and lake, was 

the gift of the late James Walker 

Beardsley, and was laid out after 

plans by Frederick Law Olmstead 

in 1 88 1. The deed to the city was 

dated May 24, 1881, and it was onl}- 

conditioned upon the expenditure 

annually, by the city, of $3,000 in 

improvements. This condition has 

been not only kept, btit exceeded. 

and the natural beauty of the park 

has, with skilled and careful man- 
agement, increased immensely, till statue ..t v. t. namum at seaside I'ark. 

now the park is one of the most 

beautiful to be met with anywhere. It is chiefly rural in character, having only the water front of the 

river, but its walks and drives, its rustic arrangements of wall and boulder and parterre, and its fine 

concourse with a magnificent view from the summit, are great attrac- 

^'_,y tions. From the level of the concourse there is a view in every 

direction, both grand and beautiful. The city lies to the south, the far 

-lund stretches from east to west along the southern horizon, while 

iral views of hill and forest, field and farm, meet the eye on the east 

and north, with the river and the opposite hillside on the west. The 

trolley cars bring crowds of passengers to this park, which is a great 

favorite, affording so strong a contrast to Seaside on the Sound, each 

n uusiev I I. K admirable in its way. 

SOME OIHER PARKS. 

Lafayette F'ark is a small area of land at the junction of Lexington avenue, Jones avenue, and 
George street. It was given by the late Nathaniel Wheeler and Seth B. Jones, and has been improved 
by the city, imtil it is a very acceptable and valuable little park 
for its immediate neighborhood. It is nearly a triangle in shape. 

A small park at the corner of Clinton and North avenues is 
called Clinton Park. It made its appearance as a source of ex- 
pense to the city in 1887, and has been duly watched and tended 
ever since. 

Wood Park is another little breathing place at the junction of 
Benham and Wood avenues, north of George street. It contains 
2.500 feet of space, and is valuable to, and appreciated by the 
neghborhoiid. 

Pembroke Park is the "Old Mill Green," the " waste land - ^^^^ Beardsley Park. 

formed by the forking of the King's Highway, east of Berkshire 

Mill pond, and left a common ever since. It has been improved for park purposes by the city, and 
will, in the future, doubtless attain a higher degree of usefulness than it enjoyed when it was an 
adjunct of the great traveled highway between New York and Boston. 





7° 



THE - STANDARirS" HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. 



IHE MURDER tlK MR. HE A RDSI.EV. 

On December 22, 1S92, James Walker Beardsley, the donor of Beard.sley Park to the city, died at 
his residence near the park, from injuries received at the hands of burglars, a few evenings before. 
The guilty parties were never discovered, and they carried away with them considerable plunder, 
leaving Mr. Beardsley, who was ill at the time, in a condition from which, as has been said, he died. 
Mr. Beard.sley left to the city a most magnificent monument of his public spirit and beneficence, and 
lie will be cherished in the memory and affection of his fellow citizens so long as the noble ]jark 
whicli bears his name gives health and pleasure to the people. 

t.arnu.m's statue. 
The bronze statue of P. T. Barninn at Seaside Park was unveiled on the 4th of ]u\y. 1893, with 



,v 







Reside 
Waldemere. 



of P. T. Barnum, near Seaside Park. 

Marina. Waldeme 



appropriate and exceedingly interesting ceremonies, in which thousands participated. The following 
is an extract from the official programme of the day: 

"A fine bronze statue of the late P. T. Barnum, a perfect picture, by Thomas Ball, was presented 
to the city of Bridgeport by his former partners, James A. Bailey and James A. Hutchinson and 
W. W. Cole. This now stands on a superbly sculptured granite pedestal, the gift of the citizens of 
Bridgeport in beautiful Seaside Park, of which he was one of the founders, and the largest donor. It 
is in a particularly well chosen site, his favorite summer-day haunt, on the margin of the Sound, and 
within sight of his former home. ***** it will be long ere the world forgets P. T. 
Barnum." 



THE SOLllIERS MONUMENT. 



The Soldiers' Monument at Seaside Park is a very beautiful and satisfactory structure. The 
Ladies' Soldiers' Monument Association of Bridgeport and the town together, furnished the funds, 



THE -STAXDARDS- HISTORY OF liRIIHrEPORr. 



71 



about $30,000, and procured the erection of the noble monument. The corner stone was laid August 
29, i866. Governor Joseph R. Hawley and Major-General A. H. Terry being among- those present. 
and taking part in the ceremonies. The monu- 
ment was dedicated August 17, 1876, and on that 
occasion there was one of the most imposing civil 
and military displays ever made in Bridgeport. 
The procession was in charge of Chief Marshal 
Wni. E. Disbrow, and among the prominent 
speakers at the literary portion of the affair, which 
took place in the Opera House, owing to a sudden 
storm, were the Hon. D. H. Sterling, Rev. Alex- 
ander R. Thompson, formerly of the South 
church, Major Wm. H. Mallory, ex-Go\-ernor 
J. R. Hawley and General Wm. H. Noble. The 
committee under whom the monument was erected 
consisted of Wm. H. Mallory, Henry A. House 
and J. D. Alvord, and the artist and designer was 
Wm. H. ^loscman, of Chicopee, Mass. 

IHK HOWE STAIUK. 

The statue of Elias Howe, the inventor, 
during his life the head of the great Howe 
Sewing Machine Co., was a gift to the city on the 
condition that a suitable base should be furnished 
for it, which was done. In the fall of 1884 the 
statue was placed upon a projicr foundation in its 



iM 








f\ 




l£w 




.fcH 


.•«fe 




»K,>^%r"' 


ksIIHf^^«9M 


IhHM^^ 


B^Kfi^S 


Hh 


^ 


1 



Soldiers' .Monuinenl, .Seaside Park. 




present position, and is prominent among the ajipro- 
priate and historic adornments of the place. 

A -NARROW ESCAPE. 

In 1853, Seaside Park, although not then thought 
of, came very near being made impossible. A com- 
mittee of the Common Council had been appointed 
to survey the city south of State street, and on July 5th 
of that year, this committee reported a map and survey, 
and another committee was appointed to lay out said 
streets m accordance with said survey. The last corn- 
committee reported on September 5th, and among the 
other improvements, recommended "the extension to 
the shore of Long Island Sound, of Lafayette street, 
Lambert street (Warren avenue) and Myrtle avenue," 
and the layout of a dozen, more or less, cross streets in 
that section. This report was adopted by the Council 
and the improvements ordered, but the Mayor failed, 
for reasons unknown, to sign the layout, and it never 
became operative. Charles B. Hubbell, Esq., was 
Mayor of the city at that time, and the fact that he 
never signed the document, the carrying out of which 
would have rendered Seaside Park an impossibility, should be placed to his credit, whatever ma}- 
have been his reason therefor. It was eleven years later tliat the movement to secure Seaside Park 
was made. 



at Seaside Pi 



CHAPTER XV. 

liRlDGEPORX's SOUND FIXANCIAL INSl'ITUTIOXS. HER HISTORIC BANKS AND HER WELL-KNOWN BANKERS. 

POSTMASTERS OF THE PASI'. CUSl'O.M HOUSE AND l_:OLLECTORS. THE NEW FEDERAL BUILDING. 

THE BANKS OF BRIDGEPORT. 

ORIDGEPORT has always prided herself upon her sound and successful financial institutions and, 
although, since the establishment of her banks, there have been numerous periods of business 
stress and financial trial, there has never been a bank failure in the city. 











The Kridgeport Bank, iPo6. 



There are five National banks in Bridgeport, five savings banks and several private banking 
institutions. 

The Bridgeport Bank, the oldest bank in the city, was incorporated in October 1806. Its capital 
_^____^^^^^^^_____^_^^^^^^____^^_= stock was $200,000, 



CASHIER OF THE BRIDdEPOBT BAIVK, 

'^Fay to ^ fY/ or B^artVy 




a J©/ and its directors 'f± 
were: Isaac Bron- 
son, B 1 r d s e V 



Norton, Samuel W. I« 

Johnson, John S. ?S -^ 

Lannon, Salmon ~ 



'i'aJ<^T- / /v^ COtlllEOTISTIT SAITZ, 

1,0., J ^ 



Hubbell, Lambert 

Lock wood, David 
.Minot, Jessup Wakeman and Ebenezer Jessup. Isaac Bronson was chosen President and George 
Iloyt, Cashier. 




.-.^r ^S'^ i^a :r>-;'^'^ 



.1» 



i^&ISg 






THE CONNECTICUT NATIONAL BANK BUILDING. 



THE -STAXOARfrS HISTOkY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



73 



Mr. Bronson was an able financier and had had experience in banking both in New York and 
Philadelphia before coming to the Bridgeport Bank. Succeeding Mr. Bronson the Presidents were: 
John S. Cannon, Ebenezer Jesstip, Sylvanns Sterling, Hanford Lyon, Sherman Hartwell, Munson 
Havvley and the present incumbent, Thomas B. DeForest. F. N. Benham is Cashier. The bank has 
been managed in a successful manner from the first. Its capital to-day is §215,850 and its surplus 
$1 12,000. 

The first building of this bank was a plain two story and a half structure on the southeast corner 
of Main and Bank streets. This was remodeled in 1857, and an additional story put on. In 1884-S5 
the Bridgeport Bank and the City Savings Bank built, upon the same site, the handsome Union Bank 
Building which they now occupy. The building is one of the finest in the city, and is a model of good 
taste and convenience in its architectural detail and arrangement. 

The next bank in order of time was the Connecticut Bank. It was granted a charter in 1831, on 
the condition that it pay a bonus of $5,000, seven-tenths of which went to Yale College, and the 
remainder to Washington College. The corporators were Cyrus H. Beardsley, Daniel Sterling, 







Enoch Foote and others. Mr. Beardsley was the father of the late Judge vSidney B. Beardslew Mr. 
Sterling was the father of the late Daniel H. Sterling "War Mayor" of Bridgeport, and General Foote 
was the father of Charles Foote, later Cashier of the bank. Mayor, etc., etc. This bank was located on 
the north corner of Wall and Water streets, for several years, but after the fire of 1833 a lot was 
purchased on the corner of Wall and Main streets, and a building erected, which was recently 
superseded by the imposing Connecticut Bank Building now standing there. The capital of this bank 
is now $332,100, and its undivided profits were (1897) $150,000. Its Presidents have been Captain 
Ezekiel Hubbell, who was elected in 1835, and the Cashier was the Honorable Charles Foote, who 
retained the position till he died. Mr. Hubbell was succeeded by Daniel Thatcher in 1840, he by 
P. C. Calhoun in 1848. Mr. Calhoun served till 1864, when he resigned to take the Presidency of the 
Fourth National Bank of New York City. Harvey Higby succeeded Mr. Calhoun and served till 1875, 
when Daniel H. Sterling was elected to fill his place. On the death of Mr. Sterling, in 1877, Mr. 
Samuel W. Baldwin was chosen to the Presidency. Mr. Foote, Cashier, died in 1862, and John T. 
Shelton succeeded him. He resigned in 1868 to become Treasurer of The New York and New Haven 
Railroad, and was succeeded by Mr. H. B. Drew, who was in turn followed by Mr. H. S. Shelton, 



74 



THE •'STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDOEPORT. 



who is now Cashier. The present building, which is a stately and substantial edifice, six stories high, 
was built in 1885-86. 

The Farmei's' Bank was chartered in 1849 with a capital of $200,000. It paid for its franchise by 
a bonus of $5,000 to the general hospital society of the State. It was located at first on the southwest 
corner of Main and State streets for several years, but in 1871, it removed to its present location on 
the corner of Main and Bank streets.. It was the first of the Bridgeport banks to adapt itself to the 
new national banking law, and in 1864 it took the name of the " First National Bank of Bridgeport." 
At the organization of this bank, Edmund S. Hawley was elected President and William E. 
Seeley, Cashier. It has been a depository of public funds since its organization as a National Bank, 




Stile 



Hon, C. B. Hubbell, Mas-t 



JI. Middlebrook, Esq. 
iSsi. Hon. P. C. Calhoun, Mayor, 1855-56-57. 

Isaac Sherman, Esq. 
Hon. Clapp Spooner, Mayor, iS6> Hon. S. B. Beard.sley, Judge Superior Court. 
Hon. John Brooks, JIayor, 1S51 and 1854. 



and its management has been very prudent and successful. Upon the death of Mr. Hawley, Win. E. 
Seeley was chosen President, and O. H. Brothwell, Cashier. Its capital stock is $210,000 and its 
surplus $105,000. 

The Pequonnock National Bank was chartered in 1851 and paid $4,000 for its charter; $1,000 to 
Bridgeport Library; $1,500 to the State Treasury for the benefit of the in.sane poor, and an equal 
amount to the State Reform School. It built the banking house that it now occupies on the corner of 
State and Main streets, and opened its doors for business in 1S51. Its Presidents have been: P. T. 
Barnimi, 1851, Charles B. Hubbell, 1855, Clapp Spooner, i860, Munson Hawley, 1865, Charles B. 
Hotchkiss, 1869. Its capital stock is now $200,000 and its surplus fund $100,000. Its President is 
David Trubee and its Cashier, I. B. Prindle. 



THE -STAXDARDS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



75 



The Bridg-eport City Bank, now the City National Bank, was organized in 1854 under the general 
banking act of 1852, with a capital of $100,000, subsequently increased to $200,000. It began business 
iu the old Post Office building on Bank street, and then removed to the corner of Wall and Water 
streets, and in 1861 it fitted up and occupied its present quarters, Nos. 17 and 19 Wall street, facing 
Middle street. In March, 1865, it was reorganized under the National Banking Act, and its capital 
was increased to §250,000. The Presidents of this bank since its organization have been Adam P. 
Houston, S. F. Hurd, Ira vSherman, Sherwood Sterling, George B. Waller and Daniel N. Morgan. 
When Mr. Morgan was appointed Treasurer of the United States by President Cleveland in 1893, he 




Ira Sherman. Ksq. Hanfoid Lyon, Esq. 

Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D. D. 
Gurdon S. Coit, D. D. Hon. E. B. Goodsell, Postmaster, 1853-1) 

Mayor, 1S71-72-7J. 



resigned his position, and Edwin G. Sanford, the present incumbent, was chosen in his place. 
Frederick J. Banks is Cashier. The surplus fund of this bank by its last .showing was $150,000. 



;avini;s h.xnk;; 



The are five savings banks in Bridgeport, the oldest of which is the Bridgeport Savings Bank, 
chartered May, 1842; among its corporate members being Gideon Thompson, Wm. H. Noble, 
Thomas Ransom and Schuyler Seeley. It was the ninth savings bank chartered in the State, and at 
the time was the only one west of New Haven. Its present handsome banking house was completed 
in 1878, and with the lot, cost about $62,000. The Presidents of this successful and well-managed 
bank have been : Sherwood Sterling, 1842; Smith Tweedy. 1843: Daniel O. Wheeler, 1850; Lemuel 



76 



THE ■■ STANDARD- S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



Coleman, 1851; Sherwood Sterling, 1S64; Hervey Higby, 1S70; E. S. Hawley, 1875. 
President is Samuel C. Trubee, and its Treasurer, Alexander Hawley. 

The City Savings Bank was chartered in 1859. David F. Hollister is President. 
Middlebrook was Treasurer from its organization 
for many years, and was succeeded by Major 
Wm. B. Hincks, the present officer. The rooms 
of the bank are in the United Bank Building, 
corner Main and Bank streets and are very 
pleasant. Wm. N. Middlebrook is Assistant 
Treasurer. The first President was Hanford 
Lyon ; he was succeeded by Ira Gregory, and he 
in turn by Horace Nichols, who was followed by 
the present incumbent. The bank has a very 
large line of deposits, and in the dividends paid 
from January, i860, to January, 1886, it disbursed 
$1,700,000. The bank built the half of the 
Union Bank Building which it occupies, and 
owns that side, the Bridgeport National Bank 
owning the southern half. 

The People's Savings Bank was organized in 
i860. Its first President was Ira Sherman and 
its Treasurer, vStephen Hawley. The bank is 
carefully and ably managed, and the money of 
its 6,000 depositors is looked after with discretion. 
It has been very successful. In December, 1864, 



Its present 
Mr. S. M. 





Bank Building-, ci.rner llain and Bank Stiects. llndgepurt 
National and City Savings Banks. 



the bank purchased the lot on the southeast corner 
of Main and Bank streets, on which stood the Part- 
ridge ph(jtographic gaUery. This building was 
removed in 1870 and the present banking house 
erected in its place. The first floor was rented to 
the First National Bank, and the Savings Bank 
occupied the front rooms on the second floor. The 
present officers are: President, Wm. E. Seeley; 
Treasurer, Edward W. Marsh ; Teller, Frank 
Hubbard. 

The Mechanics and Farmers' Savings Bank was 

chartered in 1871 but its organization was delayed 

until 1873. It was started as an East Bridgeport 

institution and located on East Washington avenue, 

near East Main street. Mr. George W. Hayes was 

its first President, and he was succeeded by Mr. 

Wm. G. Lineburgh. In 1873 the bank abandoned its East Bridgeport venture, and located in the 

basement of the Connecticut Bank Building, corner Main and Wall streets. From there it removed 

into the Barnum Building, 407 Main street. In July, 1S83, Mr. Andrew Burke was chosen President 



Old Post Office. 



nk Street Entranc 



THE •■srAXDARirS" IHSTORV OF BRIDGEPORT. 77 

and Mr. Lyman S. Catlin, Treasurer. In December, 1885, the bank removed to the City Bank 
Building, Wall street, and has been there ever since. The same officers continue. 

The Industrial Savings Bank, Patrick Coughlin, President, and John F. Noble, Treasurer, has 

rooms in the Standard Building, on 
Middle street. It has not yet fairly 
begun its career. 

The private banking establish- 
ments are: T. L. Watson & Co., 
305 Main street. Established in 1866. 
James Staples & Co., 109 State 
street; Marsh Merwin & Lemmon, 
305 Main street ; Burr & Knapp, 
363 Main street. 

TIIK I l£l)ER.\l, UUSIiNhSS. 

The Postmasters of Bridgeport 
have licen Amos Fairman, appointed 
in 1801 ; Charles Bostwick, 1804 ; 
Benjamin Bostwick, 1806 ; Charles 
Bostwick, 1808; Jesse Sterling, 1810; 
Stephen Lcninsbury, Jr., 1841; Philo 
F. Barnum, 1845 ; George Wade, 
1849; E. B. Goodsell, 1853; F. W. 
Smith, Jr., 1861; George F. Tracy, 
1869; James E. Dunham, 1872; J. W. 
Knowlton, 1875; Edwin F. Meeker, 
1 886; J. W. Knowlton, 1889; Aurelius 
Steward, 1893, present incumbent. 
The Post Office was on Bank street, 
below Main, in a building running 



Post Office and Custom Hiiuse, corner Cannon and Broad Streets. 
Site of old St. John's Church. 

through to State, where it had been located under F. W. 
Smith. But it soon became evident that the growing 
town demanded a public building, and this matter was 
successfully agitated especially by Congressman E. W. 
Seymour, until in the spring of 1888 an appropriation was 
made by Congress of §150,000 for a Federal building in 
Bridgeport, to accommodate all the departments of the 
Federal business. 

In December of that year, the site of the old Si. 
John's Church, corner Cannon and Broad streets, was 
selected, and the work soon after begun. The building 
was completed and opened to the public on February 5. 
1892. It has accommodations for the Custom House. 
Post Office and Internal Revenue Collector, and is, 
externally, a ver}^ noble and attractive building. Its 
arrangements internally are excellent also, but so little 
allowance was made in the plans for the inevitable 

growth of business, that an appropriation of §100,000 has been made by the present Cong 
for a necessary enlargement of the building. 

The Collectors of this Cu.stoms district have been: Samuel Smedley, 1789 to 18 





nss (1897), 
12; Walter 



78 



THE '' STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



Bradley, 1812 to 1832; Samuel vSimons, 1832 to 1841; Joseph Thompson, 1841 to 1845; Stephen 
Lounsbnry, 1845; William S. Pomeroy, 1845 to 1853; W. H. Peet, 1853 to 1861; Silas C. Booth, 
1861 to 1867; John Brooks, 1867 to 1869; Julius S. Hanover, 1869 to 18S5: Walter Goddard, 1885 to 
1890; George B. Edmonds, 1890 to 1893; Walter Goddard, 1893 to 1897; Frank J. Naramore, present 
incumbent. 

From the time of the establishment of the Internal Revenue Department by Government until 
the consolidation of the Connecticut districts (1883) the Hon. D. F. Hollister was Collector of this 
district. 

During- his nearly twenty-one years' term of office, Mr. Hollister collected and paid over to the 
Government $10,556,096.09, without the loss of a cent. Since consolidation, Bridgeport has only 
Deputies representing the Department. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BRIDGEPORT. BEFORE .\ND AFTER CONSOI.IDATIOX. HER MODERN SCHOOL 

BUILDINGS. THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. THE GIFT OF A NOBLE WOMAN. — ITS HISTORV 

AND PRESENT CONDllION. 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
T^HE school was a regular accompaniment and sometime forerunner of the church in the colonial 
* governmental system. In 1650, in the code of laws promulgated by Deputy Governor Roger 
Ludlow, of Fairfield, for that colony, was this clause : " Every township within the jurisdiction, after the 
Lord has increased them to the number of fifty households, shall forthwith appoint one within their town 
to teach all such children as shall be sent to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by 
the parents of such children or by the inhabitants in general. And it is further ordered that when 
any town shall increase to the number of 100 families or householders, they shall set up a grammar 
school, the master thereof being able to instruct youths so far as they may be fitted for the 
university." 

As early as 1678 the settlers in Stratfield petitioned the General Court to be released from paying 
school taxes to Fairfield, and their petition was granted. They had a school of their own. In i6gi, 
when the petition for a new parish was favorably considered, the school society was incorporated also, 
in what was then the " Village of Fairfield," afterwards (1701) called Stratfield village. 

IHE OLD DISTRICTS. 

In 1766, under a new law, the " Stratfield School Society " established three districts, the North, 
Middle and South. These were managed by committees chosen by the parish, till by the law of 1796 
a school society was formed for receiving the interest on the monies received from the sale of public 
lands in the "Western Reserve," which monies were paid "according to the list of polls and ratable 
estate of such societies respectively." The lands sold for $1,200,000, which was the basis of the 
present school fund. In 1856 the " school society " was abolished, and its property transferred to the 
town. 

DISTRICT CONSOLIDATION. 

The district system continued till the annual election in April, 1876, when the districts were 
consolidated under one control, and the management of all the schools put in the hands of a single 
committee or Board of Education. Previously Bridgeport had been divided into eleven districts and 
two fractional districts, and the disadvantages arising from the differing rules and regulations in each 
were many and serious. 

THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

The first Board of Education was chosen at a special town meeting, April 12, 1876, and consisted 
of the following persons: James C. Loomis, Daniel H. Sterling, F. W. Zingsem, James Staples, A. H. 
Abernethy, Henry T. Shelton, Andrew Burke, Edward Sterling, Joseph D. Alvord, David Ginand, 
George W. Bacon, Julius S. Hanover. It organized with the following officers: James C. Loomis, 
President; Daniel H. Sterling, Vice-President; Henry T. Shelton, Clerk; H. M. Harrington, Superin- 
tendent. The Hon. J. C. Loomis died September 16, 1877, and Mr. Julius S. Hanover, who was then 
Vice-President, was elected President of the Board, which place he held until 1891, or nearly fourteen 
years. Mr. Hanover then became agent of the Board, and was succeeded by P. W. Wren, who is 
President of the Board at the present time. Mr. H. M. Harrington was Superintendent from the 
formation of the Board until the year 1890, and to his industry, experience and tact was due very 
much of the success attending the establishment of the new system. He was succeeded by Dr. 



8o 



THE -'STAXDARLrS- HISTORY OF BRH>GEFORT. 



Eugene Bonteii, who remained until 1893, when he was succeeded by Charles W. Deane, the present 
incumbent. 

Since the formation of the Board in 1876, the following- persons have been members: James C. 
Loomis, Daniel H. Sterling-, F. W. Zingsem, James Staples, A. H. Abernethy, Henry T. vShelton, 
Andrew Burke, Edward Sterling, Joseph D. Alvord, David Ginand, George W. Bacon, Julius S. 
Hanover, Edward W. Marsh, Daniel N. Morgan, David M. Read, Nathaniel Wheeler, Thomas J. 
Synnott, George C. Waldo, George N. French, Emory F. Strong, Peter W. Wren, Wm. B. Hincks, 
Frederick Hurd, Henry Cowd, Morris B. Beardsley, Marshall E. Morris, John H. Colgan, Thomas F. 
Martin, Wilfred E. Norton, Joel Farist, Frederick A. Rice, Charles F. Williams, Joseph J. Rose, 
Edward F. Hallen, Patrick Coughlin, George Watson, David F. Read, Frank Kinsley, Frank Miller, 
Henry C. Cogswell, John N. Near, John C. Shelton, Peter Gabriel, Frank M. Canfield, Elmer S. 
Youngs, Clarence N. Payne, George L. Porter and C. C. Godfrey. 

SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 

In the matter of school houses Bridgeport had little to pride herself upon up to 18S3, at which 
time her new High School Building, on Congress street, was opened and occupied. This was a new 

departure in school construction. 




and while it was severely plain 
upon the outside, the committee 
not having any money to spend in 
ornamentation, its interior arrange- 
ment and its system of heating and 
ventilation were admirable, and 
became the subject of investiga- 
tion by visitors from all parts of 
the country. It was a model for 
imitation, and the same general 
plan has been followed in most of 
the school buildings subsequently 
constructed by the city. The 
architect was Air. Warren R. 
Briggs, of Bridgeport; the builder, 
Mr. George Turney, and the com- 
mittee for the town and the Board 
of Education consisted of Julius S. 
Hanover, Nathaniel Wheeler, Ed- 
ward W. Marsh and George C. 
Waldo. There are very few school buildings in the country more thoroughly built, and although it 
has been in use for fifteen years, it is adequate to the demands of the present, and likely to be 
sufficient in accommodations for many years to come. Two modern school buildings for the lower 
grades were erected in 1883-84, one on Myrtle avenue and the other on North avenue, corner of 
Gak street. 

A handsome and commodioiis Grammar School was erected in 1889-90, on Clinton aveniie, at a 
cost of about $60,000, and to this building the Training School, the local preparatory school for 
teachers, was removed, from the Prospect School Building in 1890. 

In 1893-94 two more school buildings were built, one on Sanford avenue, known as the "Wheeler 
School," and the other on Maplewood avenue, to replace the Old South School on Iranistan avenue. 
Beside these a new school building was opened in the upper district of the east end, known as the 
Sumnierfield School, while the new and elegant Barnum School, East Bridgeport, on the Barnum 
grounds, was occupied. This building was designed and constructed by Longstafif & Hurd, 
architects and builders. 

Bridgeport has still another new school building now under construction in the Newfield district, 
but so rapid is her growth in population, that President Wren declares in his last report (1896), that it 
will require a ten-room building to properly accommodate the annual increase. 



Hii;h School, C. 



THE '•STAXl>.\RI)-S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



8i 




School, ICast Hriilgeport. 



In 18S5 the Hon P. T. Barnum constituted a fund of $1,000, the interest of which should be 

devoted annually to two prizes, to he given to the pupils of the High School, who should compose and 

recite the two best English orations. 

Beside the regular day schools, in the winter Bridgeport has for many years supported eveninc- 

schools of various grades, which have been well attended. An evening drawing school was for 

several years ver}^ successful, 
great interest being taken by 
a large number of pupils, and 
excellent results attained, 
^[r. Julian H. Sterling taught 
the classes in this school, and 
the exhibitions of mechanical 
or free-hand work annually 
made were remarkable and 
justly commended. 

Experts in their several 
departments have been and 
are employed by the Board 
of Education in the schools, 
and music has been an es- 
pecially attractive feature of 
the curriculum. In 1872 
Mr. Charles Wells was ap- 
pointed special teacher of 
music, and for five years he 
devoted himself to the work 
to such purpose that much 

progress was made, and the interest and ambition of the pupils greatly stimulated in that line. 

After consolidation the old methods were for a time abandoned, and the good work done by Mr. 

Wells was almost lost. For several years there was no special teacher in mu.sic, but the mistake was 

finally recognized, and Mr. F. E. Howard was appointed Superintendent of Musical Instruction. His 

thorough method and excellent system have produced very satisfactory results. 

The teachers for the lower grades of the Bridgeport schools are drawn from the ranks of the 

High School graduates, those wishing to teach taking a post graduate 

course of two years in the Training School, from which they acquire a 

thorough acquaintance with the system in use, and with the theory and 

practice of teaching as here entertained and applied. The results have 

been eminently satisfactory, and amply vindicate the wisdom of the 

methods pursued. This system renders a state Normal School unneces- 
sary, and keeps the control of the local schools in the hands of the local 

board, where it properly belongs. The corps of teachers numbers 172. 
The total of school expenses for the year 1895-96 was $153,756.00. 

Registered pupils during the year, 9,024. It is a fact that the average 

cost per pupil is .smaller in Bridgeport than in any other large town in 

the state. The estimated value of school proiierty, land, buildings, 

furniture, etc., is $800,000. 

West End Scl.ool. Clint. .11 Avenue. 
I'UIV.^TE SCHOOLS. 

There were many private schools in Bridgeport from the time of its establishment as a borough. 
Prominent among these were schools managed by the Rev. Samuel Blatchford and the Rev. Elijah 
Waterman, of the First Congregational Church. There were schools also by the Rev. Birdsey G. 
Noble, Amos A. Pettingill, Mr. Abbott (in the basement of the South Church), Mr. Isaac H. 
Johnson, Mr. W. W. Selleck, Rev. Henry Jones, Rev. Guy B. Day, Mr. George W. Yates, Emory F. 
Strong, Esq. (commercial and military institute), and others. 




82 THE ■■STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

The Young- Ladies' seminaries were also numerous. 

The first of these was kept by a Mrs. M. M. Mallapar, at the foot of Toilsome Hill, afterwards 
removed to 89 Courtland street. Miss Lydia R. Ward came from Salem, Massachusetts, in 1828, to 
improve the public (high) school, then on State street, but when the Second Congregational Church 
was built, Miss Ward, with her sister. Miss Sarah C. Ward, opened a select school there, and met 
with good success. Miss Ward had a genius for teaching, and made her mark in no unmistakable 
way upon the minds and manners of the young women of Bridgeport. The school was afterward 
removed to Lafayette street, where the Misses Ward purchased a fine lot and established a school 
that had a wide and deserved reputation for excellence, and was continued until 1876. Miss Emily 
Nelson conducted a select boarding and day school for j-oung ladies, first at 23 Harrison street, and 
afterward at 107 Golden Hill. This school had a very successful career, but was discontinued 
in 1895, 

The Hillside Seminary was another successful school for girls. It was established by Miss E. B. 
Whiting, in 1856, on Gilbert street, and afterward removed to the "Old Bostwick Place," on 
Washington avenue, Golden Hill. Miss Whiting married Mr. T. J. Rundel, and for three years the 
school was conducted by a Miss Wolcott. Mrs. Rundel subsequently returned, and became again 
principal of the school, remaining until 1876. After her, Miss A. J. Stone, Miss Cornelia Knowles 
(Mrs. Fitch) and Miss Slade (Mrs. W. R. Hopson) continued the school very successfully. In 1881 
Mrs. Fitch removed to New York, and Miss Stone and ^Irs. Slade-Hopson conducted the institution 
till it was closed in 1892. 

The principal private schools of to-day are: The University School, V. C. Peck; The Park Avenue 
Institute, S. B. Jones; The Courtland School for Young Ladies, Misses :\Iarble and ^liner, and a 
number of business and commercial schools. 

THE FREE PUBLIC LlllRAKY. 

The Free Public Library of Bridgeport is one of the most useful and best equiped for popular 
purposes in the state. The public appreciation of it is shown by the constantly increasing membership, 
and by the number of books given out for home reading and for reference and study every year. At 
the seventh annual banquet of the Bridgeport Board of Trade, held at the Atlantic Hotel, on Tuesday 
evening, February 28, 1S82, during the speech making which followed the repast, the President, Hon. 
David M. Read, called upon the Hon. John D. Candee, editor of the Standard, to speak up(jn the 
Library. 

Mr. Candee said; " Deeming the final establishment of our Free Public Library as among the most 
important events in the history of Bridgeport during the past year, I cheerfully speak of it. The first 
public library was started in Bridgeport sixty-two years ago, by Mr. S. M. Middlebrook, then a boy 
about eleven years old, who in 1820, by publishing several anonymous communications in the Farmer. 
caused the calling of a public meeting and the formation of a small library which was kept open for 
many years. Then there were formerly three secret societies in Yale College, each having a fine 
library. ( )ne of these was composed entirely of southern students, who so mismanaged their funds 
that their library was at last sold to pay its debts, and the citizens of Bridgeport, by liberal 
subscriptions, bought it for a public library. For more than twenty years this library struggled along 
with inadequate funds for its support and improvement, till, not long ago, it was compelled to close its 
doors. The legislature having recently passed a law permitting the establishment of Free Public 
Libraries, to be supported by a tax upon the poll list, Mr. Clarence Sterling, of this city, interested 
himself in obtaining the benefit of this enactment for Bridgeport, and by circulating petitions to the 
Common Council, he, more than anyone else, caused the movement which has resulted in giving us our 
present noble Free Library and Reading Room. About 1,500 new books have been added to the 
Library, which brings it up to nearly 12,000 volumes, of which an average of about 350 are drawn 
daily. The spacious Reading Room, which is supplied with about $550 worth of papers, magazines 
and periodicals of special nature, receives about 500 visitors a day. Those who draw books are from 
every class in the community, old and young, and we deem it to be very useful, especially to the poor. 
Although it has been open only about two months, yet it has already taken so strong a hold upon the 
community that we can believe it will be liberally supported so long as the city exists." 

At that time, 1882, the officers of the Library were as follows: Directors, David B. Lockwood, 



THE '-STAXDARDS HISTORY OF URIDGEl'ORT. 



83 



John I). Candce, Patrick Coughlin, William B. Hincks, William J. Hills, Charles Sherwood, Gustave 
Ohnesorg-, M. D. ; President, William D. Bishop; Vice-President, John D. Candee; Secretary, 
Charles Sherwood; Treasurer, Wm. B. Hincks; Librarian, Mrs. Agnes Hills. 

In November, 1882, the Directors determined to try the experiment of opening the reading room 
on Sunday in order that a class of citizens might be accommodated who were debarred by their daily 
labor on secular days from the use of the library. The experiment was a success from the beginning, 
and the Reading Room has been open to the public on Sunday ever since. The Sunday attendance for 
the year 1896 was over 10,000. 

In January, 1883, by the death of Mrs. Catherine A. Pettingill, the trustees of the Bridgeport 
Public Library came into possession, as trustees for the city, of the property on the southwest corner 
of Main and John streets, known as the Burroughs Building, which was put into their hands by the 
will of Mrs. Pettingill. to be used for library purposes, and to be called the Burroughs Public Library 
Building. The building is a handsome fonr-storj- structure, with two fine stores on ^Liin street, and a 




Art Gallery, West. 
General Deliverv Desk. 



il< 1 I'l l;l.IC I.IHK.^KV, 

Main Street. 



Art Gallers-, Kast. 

Catalogue Room. 



wide hallway between. It was built by Abijah Burroughs, brother of Mrs. Pettingill. This building 
was immediately taken in hand by the trustees, and the neces.sary repairs and alterations made. 

The new library building was opened to the public on June 11, 1S88. The report of the Directors 
to His Honor, Mayor R. E. DeForest, made June i, 18S9, contains the following reference to the new 
quarters: "The Directors have much pleasure in reporting, after the practical test of eleven months' 
work, that the Burroughs Building is admirably adapted for library purposes. The arrangements 
have received the approval of many visiting librarians, and if the work could be done again, there 
would be little, if anything, to alter. * * * Its utility is shown by the fact that nearly half the works 
issued last year were of an educational character. Our need of books grows more imperative every year. 
In proportion, as we educate the people, we create new demands. The inhabitants of the recently 
annexed districts are eagerly availing themselves of library privileges, and next winter will 
undoubtedly see a great increase in our labors. 



84 



THE •• STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. 



" It is a matter of congratulation that through the wise munificence of a noble woman, our city is 
sure of sufficient library accommodations for many years to come." 

The progress of the institution since then has been constant and marked, and the place that it 
occupies in the life of the city is ever growing larger. The property is productive and is steadily 
paying off the debt contracted for its improvement, the library is increasing in value to all students 
and lovers of good literature, as well as to those who only read to be amused. The annual report for 
1896 showed an addition of over 3,000 books and documents during the year, of which only about 530 
were " light literature. " The total of volumes in the library is 28,194, and there were given out for 
home use and for study and consultation during the year a total of 142,637 volumes. 

A new departure in library work was made not long since by the Directors, in converting the 
large hall at the top of the building into an "art gallery and art department," and of that special 
branch of work the librarian speaks, in a recent article, as follows : 

" Three years ago an art department was added to the institution, and since then a series of art 
exhibitions have been held every year under the direction of the art committee and Superintendent 
Hills. This has proved a formidable addition to the work of the library, involving, as it does, the 
planning of exhibitions months ahead of the actual time of opening, and the endless responsibilities of 
their care and arrangement. On the other hand, the exhibits have been exceedingly popular, and the 
patronage of them increases yearly. They have drawn into the library people whom books alone 
would never have attracted, and their influence is undoubtedly elevating. The library exhibitions 
seem to prove the truth of the old saying, that "pictures are the books of the unlearned." Children 
delight in them, and the hard-working people, too tired for reading or continuous study, often express 
their sense of the rest and refreshment they find in them. Some experiments have also been made 
in the direction of free lectures with gratifying success." 

The Board of Directors is constituted as follows: President, Frederick Hurd; Vice-President, 
Wm. B. Hincks; Secretary, Charles Sherwood; Treasurer, W. J. Hills; Directors, the foregoing and 
W. J. Hills, Wm. D. Bishop, Jr., Morris B. Beardsley (appointed by Mayor Clark to fill the place made 
vacant by the death of Hon. D. B. Lockwood), George C. Waldo, Patrick Coughlin and Alfred B. Beers. 

The library has been, and is, fortunate in its librarian, Mrs. Agnes Hills, whose qualifications for 
the place are admirable, and upon whose excellent management much of the success of the institution 
depends. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

BRIDGEPORT DURING IHE WAR 1861-65. HIK SKNIIMENTS SOLID AND HFK SOLDIERS READY. HER 

EARLV ENLIST.MENTS. ELIAS HOWE, JR., A I'UIVATE IN THE RANKS. IHEEADIES' AID SOCIETIES 

NUMEROUS AND EFFECTIVE. THE G. A. R. AND OTHER VETERAN ORGANIZATIONS. 

IHE C. N. G. liRlllGEPORl's SHARE OF THE 4TH REGIMENT. 

■npO properly set forth the history of Bridgeport during the War of the Rebellion would require a 

* volume by itself and a farther perspective than the present time affords. Its treatment now, 

must of necessity be very general. Bridgeport was loyal, although it contained elements in 1861 as 




W. S. KnowHon, Es ]. Capt. Jas. K. Dunham, 

Elias Howe, Jr. 

Dr. H. X. Hennett. !I..n. D. H. Sterling. 



it did in 1876 and in 1S12, hostile to the government and willing to embarrass or defeat it, in every 
manner possible and at every available time. But the City Government was in the hands of the 
Republican party, and at the heal was Mayor Daniel H. Sterling, a n:an loyal, brave and capable. 



86 THE -STASDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. 

who held the reins of the municipal government with firm and judicious hands thniuyhout those 
trying days. At a meeting of the Common Council held on April 15, 1S61, Councilman Wm. S. 
Knowlton introduced the following resolutions which were unanimously passed: 

Whtreas, Rebels and traitors have wickedly assaulted and fired upon the flag of our country 

thereby waging war against our Government and initiating strife, therefore 

Resolved, That we solemnl}' renew ottr fealty to the Government under which we live, fully 

beHeving that it is the best that any people were ever favored with, and that we will use our 

influence to uphold the constituted authorities. 

Resolved, That we earnestly invite our citizens to join hands with the Government in 

sustaining- the Union, the Constitution and the enforcement of the laws, and that they frown upon 

every efifort made to encourage disloyalty to our flag and country. 

Resolved, That we have full confidence in the patriotism, integrity and ability of the President 

and the Cabinet; that we extend to them our hearty sympathy in the ordeal through which they 

are passing and that we pledge to them our united and earnest support in all their constitutional 

acts. 

In commenting upon the condition of afifairs, in his opening address at the same meeting, Mayor 
D. H. Sterling said: " I am happy to assure you that our city, notwithstanding the severe blow that 
has been dealt at her manufacturing, commercial and business interests, is still true to the Constitution 
and the Union. A strong determination pervades the minds of her citizens to uphold the Government 
at any cost and sacrifice." These noble words as well as the resolutions adopted, show the true 
feeling of the people. 

Such was the position taken by Bridgeport at the beginning and firmly maintained until the end, 
and she poured forth of her blood and treasure in the cause of the Union in no stinted measure. 

From the first public meeting on April 20, 186 [, when the town voted $10,000 to aid the families 
of volunteers and raised $7,000 on the spot, through to the grand illumination in honor of the Fall of 
Richmond on April 10, 1865, there was no serious break in the succession of patriotic acts which 
answered fully to the demands of every occasion. Another great war meeting was held July 19, 1862, 
just after the defeat of McClellan, at which Mayor Sterling, Hon. Wm. D. Bishop, Hon. Russell 
Tomlinson, Elias Howe, the inventor, then a resident of Bridgeport, and Governor Buckingham were 
speakers. Mr. Howe enlisted that evening, in the Seventeenth Regiment, then forming, and his 
example was followed by crowds of young men whose enthusiasm was awakened by his action. 

Bridgeport sent her full quota to the war and there were men of all ages and all walks in life 
among the volunteers. Boys enlisted and came back after the war with commissions and records for 
bravery, before they had reached twenty-one years of age. In the three months' campaign a company 
was raised by Capt. Fred'k Frye, and the following extract from the Standard oi April 30, 1861, 
relates an interesting event in connection therewith: 

"One of the most interesting occasions which we have ever known in Bridgeport, occurred last 
evening at Washington Hall. Company D, Third Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, were marched 
into the crowded hall at ^V2 o'clock, and a public presentation took place of the following articles from 
the ladies of Bridgeport. A sword and belt and pair of epaulets to Capt. Fred'k Frye, and 
Lieutenant's epaulets to the two Lievitenants of the Company, Sylvester H. Gray and Elliot M. 
Curtis; from Samuel Baldwin, Esq., a revolver to Capt. Frye. A revolver was also presented to 
Orderly Sergeant Doane and some other articles to other members of the Company. The presentation 
address was made by H. T. Blake, Esq., and Capt. Frye and his officers happily responded, after 
which Rev. Mr. Thompson addressed the Volunteers in some appropriate and eloquent remarks. 
Capt. Frye, who leaves a large and excellent law practice in this city, and a most interesting family, 
in order to serve his cotmtry, comes of a gallant and distinguished lineage, his ancestors for five 
generations back, having served as officers in the various wars of our country's history." 

vSeven companies were filled in part or whole, by Bridgeport men in the fall of 186 1, and among 
their officers were Major L. N. Middlebrook, Captain Henr\' Beible, Captain Thos. Boudren, Captain 
Sylvester Gray, Lieut. H. M. Hoyt, Captain Thomas Coates, Captain Elliot M. Curtis, Major John 
Speidel, Col. Richard Fitzgibbons and Major Fred'k Frye. 

In 1862 the Fourteenth Regiment went out, containing a Company from Bridgeport and under 
command of Col. Dwight Morris, of this city. Other members of the Fourteenth from Bridgeport 



THE ••STAXDARDS" HISTORY OF BKHHiEPORT. 



87 



were Julius W. Knowlton, Alfred (i. Mollan, Frederick B. Hawlc}-, Franklin Hartlett, RnsselUilen, 
\\m. B. Hincks, F. B. Doten, Francis A. King-. 

Then the Sev'enteenth Regiment was formed under Col. (afterwards (General) Wm. H. Noble, 
Charles AValter, Lieut. Col., with a large number of Bridgeport men, among whom were: Hanford N. 
Hayes, Dr. Robert Hubbard, Elijah Gregory, Jesse S. Xash, W. H. Lacey, Wm. L. Hubbell, Henry 
North, Henry Huss, John C. Curtis, F. B. Hall, Elias Howe, Jr., John F. Clancy, George E. 
Underhill, James E. Dunham, H. Whiting Chatfield. Edgar Squires, John H. Porter, Charles 
McElroy and Patrick Wade, Jr. 

The Second Conn, l-ight Battery, Captain John W. Sterling, was also recruited from Bridgeport. 




A. C. Hobbs, Ksq. Major Frederick Frye 

Hon. W. D. Hishop. Gen. Wm. H. Noble. 

Hon. Patrick Couglilin. t:harles Foote, Esq, 



Major Tliomas Houdren. 
Hon. Nathaniel Wheeler 
Alfred Hopkins. 



Among its members were Walter S. Hotchkiss, Philip B. Segee, George Munger, D. B. Lockwood, 
Philo B. Sherman, Frank H. Whiting, Miles Gray, Justus B. Hawley, Henry R. Chaffee, Walter K. 
Mills, W. W. Narramore, George A. Stockwell, Wm. P. Burroughs, S. H. ^Nliddlebrook, Wm. R. 
Palmer and Sam B. Spinning. 

The First Conn. Calvary regiment contained L. N. Middlebrook, Richard R. Crawford, 
Frederick Curtiss, Henry I. Flint, Frank A. Wood, and William H. Mallory was Captain in the First 
Sqnadron. 

In the Si.xth Regiment among others were; Rudolph Kost, John Waters, George W. Bailey, 
Alfred B. Beers and Edward H. Lyon. Under the nine months call, in 1.S62, three companies were 
recruited in Bridgeport. Company D. Twenty-third Regiment. Captain C. W. Hall; Company I. 



88 THE '■ STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRHtQEPORT. 

Twenty-third Regiment, Captain W. H. May, and Company K. Twenty-fourth Regiment, Lieutenant 
E. M. Goodwin. Among the members of Company D. and I. Twenty-third Regiment were John H. 
Coggswell, John G. Stevens, Charles E. Shelton, R. B. Faircbild, John W. Buckingham and 
Peter Doolan. 

The tablets on the Soldiers' Monument at Seaside Park bear the names of i68 Bridgeport soldiers 
and sailors who died in the service during the war, killed on the field, of disease in the hospital, or of 
starvation in the prison pen. 

THE LADIES' SOCIETIES. 

The record of the Ladies' Societies of Bridgeport during the war is one worthy of mention and 
commendation. 

The Ladies' Relief Societ}* was formed August i, 1861, and met every "Wednesday for work, from 
that time on during the war. Mrs. WooLsey G. Sterling was President until she removed from the 
city, and then slie was succeeded by Mrs. Daniel Thatcher. Other officers were: Miss Lydia R. 



--i 








(|, .■ y_ 4^ -rrU 4 3... ■ 

qi iiiij IB Of 1 !Tn \\\ 



u 



'S 






i^iil^ 



The Sanford Building 

in, corner of Cannon Street. 



Arcade- Interior, 
•morv— Main Street. 



Ward, Secretary, and Miss Sarah Jane Hawley, Treasurer. While this Society collected and 
forwarded money and supplies, its chief function was in connection with the sanitary commission in 
supplying hospital clothing and stores. Beside this large numbers of boxes of provisions, mittens, 
stockings, etc. , were forwarded to Connecticut regiments in the field. 

The Soldiers' Aid Society was organized July 19, 1862, and it officers were: Mrs. D. H. Sterling, 
President; Mrs. Munson Hawley, Vice-Pre.sident; ]\Irs. L. H. Norton, Secretary; Mis. Wm. E. 
Seeley, Treasurer. This was a very large and active society and its work was very important. It 
forwarded to the front large numbers of bo.\es of goods, and in 1863, in response to an appeal for 
fresh vegetables for the soldiers, it received and forwarded several thousand barrels and boxes of the 
same to the seat of war, Mr. Henry R. Parrott, then agent for the Adams Express Company, taking 
charge of their carriage and delivery. 

The third society of Bridgeport ladies was the League of Loyal Women of Bridgeport. This 



THE 



STASIiARIfS" HISTORY OF IIRIDGEPORT. 



89 



was formed in 1S63, with Mrs. S. S. Clapp, President, and Mrs. E B. Whiting', Secretary. It hatl 
129 members and its object was to encourage loyalty. 

(i. A. R. 

Bridg'eport has to-day a large and flourishing Grand Army Post, Elias Howe, Jr., Xo. 3, founded 
in 1867; the members of which embrace representatives from the Union \^eterans oi many states. It 
has quite a fund for the relief of sick and needy members, and it loolcs after the widows and 
dependent children of deceased veterans. Some of its members have been high up in the State and 
national organizations. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the institution of the order of the (irand 
Army of the Republic was celebrated April 6, 1S91, at Bunnell's Opera House, under the manage- 
ment of Elias Howe, Jr., Post, and was a very successful affair. 

There is also a Sons of Veterans Camp, Franklin Bartlett. No. 11, and Col. S. R. Sumner 
Command Xo. 2, Union Veterans Union. These organizations look well after the interest of the 
\'eterans and keep fresh the patriotic lessons of the last war. 

HONOR MEX. 
Two Bridgeport veterans have received the medal voted by Congress for distinguished bravery 
on the field, and given out by the Secretary of War. They 
are Major Wm. B. Hincks and Lieutenant [(jhn C. Curtis. 

COXXECTICUT XATIOXAL CUAKD. 

Prior to the war of the rebellion Bridgeport had 
maintained her share of military organizations, from the 
train band of the old Stratfield days down through the 
period of the two wars with England. The "old militia" 
had degenerated at one time so as to be very near a farce, 
but there were, at the date of the last war, many excellent 
military companies in the State, and after the war Bridge- 
port's quota of the Connecticut Xational Guard, as then 
reorganized, was two companies, which, in 1870, were as 
follows: Company B., Capt. John S. Atkinson, and Com- 
pany E. (East Bridgeport), Capt. Edw-ard N. Goodwin. 

Bridgeport has now three companies of the National 
(iuard. Company B. , Capt. Wni. Houlihan; Company Iv, 
Capt. John J. (ilennon, and Company K., Capt. Frederick H. 
Masterson. 

There is also Fourth Section lirigade vSignal Corps, 
under Lieut. Edward S. Challenger; and Fourth Section '""' ai""">—m-'"i .>i>ci-t i-.ntraiue. 

Machine Gun Battery, under Lieut. Franklin S. Edwards. 

These organizations are all in a most creditable condition. The militia of Bridgeport belongs to 
the Fourth Regiment C. X. (i., which is located in Litchfield and Fairfield counties. 

In 1890 Col. T. L. Watson, of Bridgeport, in command of the Fourth Regiment, was appointed 
(ioneral of the Connecticut Xational Guard, and held the position till May, 1892. (ieneral Watson 
was succeeded in the Fourth Regiment by Lieut. Col. Henry Skinner, of Winsted, who became 
Colonel on the 2 2d of March, 1890. On January 8, 1892, Captain Russell Frost was chosen Colonel 
of the Fourth, and held the command till appointed General of Brigade, in 1897, when he was 
succeeded in the regiment by Major James H. Sheridan, the present colonel, commanding. 

On the staff of General Frost is Brigade Quarter Master Major Wm. H. Marigold, of Bridgeport. 

Officers from Bridgeport on the staffs of Governors of Connecticut since 1889 have been : Col. 
Frank R. Parrott, aide on the staff of Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley, 1889; Brigadier General, Henry 
A. Bishop, Paymaster General to Governor Luzon B. Morris, 1893-95; Brigadier General William E. 
Disbrow, Quartermaster General to Governor Vincent O. Coffin, 1895-97; Brigadier General Louis 
N. Van Keuren, Quartermaster General to Governor Lorrin A. Cooke, present executive, 1897. 

The Armory is located on Main street, is a very fine and commodious building, with space for 
battalion drills and separate rooms for each Company. 




CHAPTER XVlll. 

THE RARXUM IXSTITL'TE. HISTORICAL AXD SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. THE SEASIDE INSTITUTE. YOUNG 

men's christian ASSOCIATION, BOVS' CLUH, ORPHAN ASYLUM, ASSOCIATED AND OTHER CHARITIES, 
PUBLIC CHARITIES. CEMETERIES. 

THE BARNUM INSTITUTE. 

'"pHE Barnimi Institute of vScience and History is a notable building situated on the southeast corner 
* of Main and Gilbert streets, and challenging attention by its prominent position and picturescjue 
aspect. In 1888 the Hon. P. T. Barnum announced that he had given to the Bridgeport Scientific 
Society and the Fairfield Historical vSociety, the plot of land on the corner of Main and Gilbert streets, 
and that he would erect thereon a building that should be a home for them, an ornament to the city. 




Circus Day in Bridgeport. " The Greatest on Earth." 

and a monument to himself. This he did, and in December, 1892, his administrators made over to the 
societies named, including the Medical Society, whic.x was designated a room in the building, the 
Barnum Institute of Science and History, which was opened and dedicated with appropriate 
ceremonies, on February 18, 1893. The first floor is occupied by the museum and collections of the 
Scientific Society; the second floor by the collections of the Historical Society and by the room of the 
Bridgeport Medical Society, and on the third or upper floor is the auditorium or lecture hall for the 
purposes of both organizations. So far as has been practicable the collections of both the Scientific 
and Historical Societies have been open to the public, and thousands of visitors from Bridgeport and 
abroad have been through the rooms. Since its opening the building has been in charge of a joint 





View ii: Mubeum o£ the Bridgeport Scientific Society. 




Collection of the Historical Society. 




Barnum Alcove. Historical Society Rooms. 



THE "STAXDARD'S' HISTORY OF BRHHJEPORT. 



91 




committee of the two societies, consisting of Messrs. Isaac Hoiden and E. R. Lambert for the Scientific 
Societ}', and Edward Deacon and George C. Waldo for the Historical Society. 

The Bridgeport Scientific Society was organized in 1877, and its Presidents have been Rev. Dr. 
H. N. Powers, Isaac Hoiden, Esq., Rev. Beverley E. Warner and Dr. C. C. Godfrey, present incumbent. 

It has a large membership and does a com- 
mendable amount of work in the way of scientific 
investigation and instruction. It gives a course 
of lectures on scientific subjects every year that 
are well attended, and its classified collections 
are of great and growing value and interest. 

The Fairfield Coimty Historical .Society was 
organized January 28, 1881. Its fir.st officers 
were: President, R. B. Lacey; Vice-Presidents, 
Hon. W. T. Minor, Rev. Benjamin L. Swan, 
and Charles Burr Todd; Treasurer, Major Wm. 
B. Hincks; Recording Secretary, Dr. N. E. 
Wordin ; Corresponding Secretary, Maj. L. N. 
Middlebrook. Mr. Lacej- was President until 
his death in 1897, when he was succeeded by 
Curtis Thompson, Esq., the present incumbent. 
The Society has issued a nmnber of papers and 
\ lew in Histi.ncai suciety's Rooms. reports, and its Collections and library are con- 

stantly increasing. 
" Orcutt's History of Stratford and Bridgeport," issued in two volumes in 1887, was under the 
auspices, and with the assistance of the Society, and the author. Rev. Samuel Orcutt, was Secretary 
of the Society at the time he was killed by a railway 
train, near the Naugatnck dock in Bridgeport, January 
•5, 1893. 

The .Seaside Institute was erected in 18S7 Ijy iho 
Warner Brothers, proprietors of the great corset factory, 
for the use of their employes. It affords to the young 
girls and women engaged in the factory the advantages 
and facilities of a well arranged club at very low prices. 
It has a restaurant, free reading room, librar)-, bath 
rooms, public hall, and rooms for evening classes. It 
is a finely proportioned and elegant building of brick 
and stone, and cost about $60,000. 

THE v. M. C. A. 

The first effort for a Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation in Bridgeport was made in 1868 with the follow- 
ing organization: Dabney Carr, President; Henry 
Stirling, Emory F. Strong and R. P. Chapman, Vice- 
Presidents; C. P. Porter, Treasurer, and Wm.F. Fosket, 
.Secretary. After doing commendable work it was dis- 
continued in 1S72. "The Voung Men's Christian As- 
sociation " of Bridgeport was organized in June, 1883, 
and incorporated a year later. It employed Mr. Wm. 
E. Colley as general Secretary, and he began his work 
in 188^. The Association secured rooms and entered 

•^ Kiunmce i. . Seaside Institute. 

upon the regular work of such a body, making itself 

felt and respected from the first. The management was vigorous and efficient, and the results appealed 
to the discriminating public. The officers were: Dr. I. de Ver. Warner, President; D. W. Kissam, 
Daniel E. Mansh, M.-'.rshall E. Morris, Vice-Presidents; F. W. Marsh, Treasurer; Dr. W. H. Donaldson, 
Recording Secretary; W. E. Colley, General Secretery, and George Munger, Auditor. 



\-^i^M!m^ 


:^ 


rr r j-dJc;::_Wwy_ Tfb. 


I" 


■M '^ 


1 



92 THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

The need of a building specially adapted to its work and adequate to the possibilities of the city 
was felt from the first, and the effort to secure it was constant. In October, 1888, the President, Dr. 
I. de Ver. Warner, placed at the disposal of the Society the lot of land on the northwest corner of 
Main and Gilbert streets, and on Jim e 3, 1890, the corner stone of the present handsome and com- 
modions building was laid, Chauncey M. Depew pronouncing the oration. Mr. W. R. Briggs was the 
architect, and the building is in every respect a most satisfactory home for the Association. It was 
opened and occupied in 1891. It cost about $150,000. 

The Association has a finely equipped and well managed Physical Department, a Trade School 
and Institute, which turns out excellent work, a Religious Department, Reading and Study Rooms, 
and, in short, all the equipments of a thoroughly effective organization. 

liOVS' CLUI!. 

Along similar lines with the Y. M. 

C. A., but in a different field is " The 
Boys' Club," organized on a small scale 
about twelve years ago, but now with a 
membership of over 1,700 boys. The 
officers are: John C. Curtis, President; 

D. ¥. HoUister, Vice-President; Morris 
B. Beardsley, Second Vice-President; 
(_)range Merwin, Secretary and Trea- 
surer. This organization takes from the 
streets the boys who have few home 
comforts and advantages, and provides 
them with instruction, entertainment, 
and good surroundings and influences, 
free. Its work has been greatly pros- 
pered and it answers a want long unsup- 
plied, but which bears a great influence 
u])on the future character of the com- 
munity. It has a fund gradually grow- 
ing, with which it will hereafter build a 
home of its own, designed for its especial 
purposes. It is the most successful club 
of its character in the United States. 

ORPHAN ASVl.UM. 

The Bridgeport Protestant Orphan 
Asylum, No. 119 Lafayette street, was 
organized December 11, 1867, and incor- 
•I'he SeasiJe insinuu-, poratcd Jtlay 6, 1868. It lias a building 

in which it finds comfortaljle but not 
entirely adequate quarters, and it has a fund for a new building, to be erected in the future, upon 
Fairfield avenue in the Black Rock district. For years the late Miss Lydia R. Ward was President of 
the institution and her interest in and labor for it were constant. It has a corps of officers and managers 
comprising the most prominent ladies in Bridgeport, and its good work enlists the sympathies of all 
charitable persons in the community at large. 




A SSOC I A r EI ) CHARITIES. 

The Bridgeport Associated Charities for Industrial Relief is a society founded for the purpose of 
preventing the evils of indi.scriminate alms giving, to examine into needy cases and furnish, where 
possible, the means of self-support, which are so much more beneficial than unearned relief. It has 
done a very large amount of good in the exposure of fraud and the assistance of the worthy and 
de,serving, and it is greatly appreciated in the city. 




Association Buildin;; 




ELECTRICAL GKOVVTH. 

Has Come To-iSy?— Tangle of Poles and Wires, Fairfield Av 



e, Looking up Mi.ldleSt- 




;v. B. E. Warner, I). D. 


General T. L. Watson. 


Isaac Holden.Hsq 


Jacob Kieter, Esq. 


Rev. H. N. Powers, D. D. 


Dr. F. M. Wilson. 


Capt. John C. Cui-tis. 


J.rs. Hanover, Esq. 


A.!J. Hobbs, Esq. 



The 
is wide, 
the citv. 



THE -STAXDARD-S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 93 

Ladies' Charitable Society is what its name implies, and the extent of its work and influence 
It meets every week and its members are among- the most active and influential ladies in 

The Protestant Widows' Society and Sterling 
Widows' Home provides a home with all its comforts 
to those admitted to its privileges. It has a large 
and pleasantly situated building on Prospect street, 
where there is seldom a vacant room, and where 
many worthy but dependent widows find comfort 
and provision for their declining years. It is an 
admirably managed institution, and its afi"airs are 
in the hands of charitable, self-sacrificing and 
efficient ladies. 

Besides these associations there are : The San- 
ford Orphanage; The Woman's Auxiliary Y. ^I. 
C. A. ; The Young Woman's Christian Association, 
and many other minor charities. Every church in 
Bridgeport has one or more charitable guilds or 
societies connected with it, and few cities of its 
size can boast of better organized or more effective 
charitable work. 

CI IV CHAKl I ll>. 

The city charities are in charge of the Board 
of Public Charities, a branch of the City Govern- 
ment. This work is done with discrimination and 
care, but the cost is considerable. The Emergency 
Entrain. e I.. M .I'.ii. i.:-.r i,, .:y Hospital, Tlic Town Farm, tlic Am bulancc servicc 

and the outside poor, aggregated in 1895-96 an expense to the city of S37.500, or more than four times 
the entire cost of the City 
Government in 1857. 

CEMETKRY ASSOCl.^TIOXS. 

The Mountain Grove 
Cemetery, the most im- 
portant in the city, was 
organized in 1849, and the 
grounds opened in 1850. 
The gateway to the grounds 
was built by the proceeds 
of a concert given by Miss 
Catharine Hayes, a noted 
singer, in 1852, while a 
guest of P. T. Barnum. In 
1S78 a fair held in the city 
netted the Association over 
$1 1,000, which was used in 
improving the groimds. 
The present officers are : 
Dr. I. de V. Warner, Presi- 
dent ; F. J. Xarramore, 
Secretary. 

The Lake View Cemetery Association, Chas. N. Beecher, President; Secretary and Agent, W. C 
Mead. This body was chartered in 181 1 and its grounds are situated north of Old Mill Green, 
charter was amended in 1872, new grounds added, and it became a more important place. 





It.'. 



94 



THE " STAXDARDS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



The Park Cemetery Association was organized in 1878, and its grounds are located in the northern 
portion of the city on the west side of the river. Its President is B. H. Hull, and .Secretary and 
Treasurer, J. W. Thompson. 

St. Augustine's Cemetery, a Catholic burying place, is situated on Arctic street, corner of Helen. 




Docks of the Bridgeport .Steamboat Co. 



i 



CHAPTER XIX. 



SOCIAL CLUBS AND KRATERNAL ORIJ AXIZ A TIONS. IHE "OLD ECLECTIC. THE SEASIDE. THE ROOF TREE 

AND THE ALGONQUIN' CLUBS. — THE MASONIC ORDER. THE ODD FELLOWS, KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 

AND OTHERS. RRIDC; KPORt's AMUSEMENTS AND THEATRES IN THE PAST. SOME 

MEMORABLE EVENTS. THE BEGINNING OF ELECTRICAL USES. 

SOCIAL CLUBS. 
npHE Eclectic Club was an organization for purely social purposes among the prominent young men 
of the town nearly thirty years ago. It was constituted in 1870, and first had rooms on the 
second floor of Wheeler's Building, on the corner of Fairfield avenue and Main street. It subsequently 
removed to the Curtis Building, corner of ^lain and Elm streets, and its last move was to the second 
story of what was then the Burroughs' Building, where it occupied nearly all the room on the second 
floor, which is now the location of the Bridgeport Public Library. As the club grew older it was joined 
by an older class of men, and at one time it had a large number of the prominent men of the place on 

its membership roll. It was dis- 




banded in 1890, paid all its debts 
and a dividend to its members, and 
left only pleasing recollections of 
its career behind. Among its Presi- 
dents were: (ieorge C. Waldo, 
Morris W. .Seymour, Wm. H. 
Stevenson, R. T. Clark, George 
L. Porter and John E. Pond. 

The Seaside Club was origin- 
ally a driving club, and was organ- 
ized in 1884 with E. R. Ives, Presi- 
dent; E. G. Burnham, Francis 
Ives, Vice Presidents; Frank J. 
Narramore, Secretary, and Chas. 
F. Williams, Treasurer. 

Later on it dropped its original 
driving character and became a 
social club for general purposes. 
It grew rapidly, and has been very 
popular. Its first rooms were at 
No. 344 Main street, where it occu- 
pied the second and third floors of the building. In 1888 it began looking for a location for a new club 
house, and finally purchased the lot on the southeast corner of State and Lafayette streets, upon which 
it proceeded to erect its present commodious and elegant structure. Being forced to leave its first 
rooms on Main street before the new club house was completed, the organization moved into rooms in 
Wheeler's Block, on Main street, and occupied them until its new building was opened September 19, 
i8gi. This club has been m.anaged along the lines of its original intention, and its membership has 
embraced very many of the prominent business and professional men of the city. It has a membership of 
about 400, and is in a sound and healthy financial condition. It affords its members both amusement 
and business facilities, and its exceptional character commends it to the support of discriminating 
men. Its Presidents have been: E. R. Ives, Nathaniel Wheeler, Frederick Hard, F. M. Mason, George 
C. Waldo, Civilian Fones, Wm. E. Seeley, Henry Atwater, Wm. H. Kelsey, L. N. Van Keuren and 
David F. Read, the present incumbent. 



Seaside Club. 



96 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 




The Seaside Outing Club is a sub-organization of the Seaside Club, with a pleasant summer house 
on Seaview avenue overlooking the water. It was organized in 1894, and is popular and well sustained. 
Its President is John A. Rusling; Vice-President, Edward S. Hotchkiss; Secretary, R. W. Cogswell, 
and Treasurer, Fred. Atwater. 

The Roof Tre3 Club is a purely social organization on the east side. It was formed in November^ 

1891, and opened to its members January 4, 1892. Its rooms 
are at No. 197 Noble avenue, and its ofUcers are: President, 
\V. T. Howes; Vice-president, N. S. Warner; Secretary, 
E. H. Havens. 

The Algonquin Club was organized October 5, 1S92, and 
its first and present rooms are in the Staples and Barnum 
Bniklings (adjoining) on State street, where it has handsome 
and extensive ciuarters. It is run on full club principles 
with a cuisine and other club accommodations. It was 
limited in membership at first, but was popular and after- 
wards enlarged its number. It will have very fine I'ooms in 
the new Seeley Building, now being completed at the corner 
of State and Broad streets, where it will occupy as much 
floor space as any club in the state. Its Presidents have 
been Archibald McNeil, General Henry A. Bishop and 
Thomas P. Taylor, the present official. 

THE COUNTRY CLUB. 

The Country Club is an organization for the usual pur- 
poses of such clubs, and is located in Brooklawn Park, just 
west of Brooklawn avenue and across the Fairfield line. It is 
a popular institution, and has in its membership a large 

Fire IMact^ in I'aiior <>f .Seaside Club. , r n • i ^ i t j i.i t* • i 

number of Bridgeport ladies and gentlemen. It provides 
the means of outdoor sport in golf links, baseball grounds, etc., and has buildings for receptions, 
dances, dinners, and the other accompaniments of such institutions. It is incorporated as "The 
Brooklawn Association of Fairfield," and its officers are: President, Wm. E. Seeley; Vice-President, 
Charles Sherwood; Treasurer, Herbert M. Knapp, and Secretary, Wm. T. Hincks. 

KRATERN.\L ORDERS. 

The Masonic Order is a §trong cme in Bridgeport, 
and it is the oldest of the fraternal orders of the city. 
St. John's Lodge No. 3, Free and Accepted Masons, 
was founded in Stratfield in 1762. It was subse- 
quently moved to Fairfield, but in 1789 it was finally 
removed to Bridgeport, where it met in the house of 
Daniel Young, southwest corner of Union and Water 
streets. During the excitement over the alleged ab- 
duction of Morgan (1831-32) feeling ran high against 
Free Masonry in Bridgeport as well as elsewhere. 
Various unfounded charges were made against it, 
and it was declared "injurious to morality and re- 
ligion." The feeling against the order soon died out, 
however, and the progress of free masonry was after- 
ward unchecked. In 1862 the centennial anniversarv 
of St. John's Lodge was celebrated in the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church with appropriate cere- 
monies, and in Franklin Hall with a banquet. Kntra.Ke :.. m... ;,. i. ,:,.ie on Bn.ad street. 

The next Masonic organization in Bridgeport was Jerusalem Chapter No. 13, R. A. M., established 
October 21, 1813. Then came Jerusalem Council No. 16, R. and S. M., 1827; next, Hamilton Com- 
mandery No. 5, Knights Templar, 1855, and four other lodges and chapters in 1S58. Corinthian Lodge 
No. 104 was chartered in 1868. 




THE -STAXDARDS'- HISTORY OF BRJDGEPORT. 



97 




In 



There are now eleven Masonic societies in the city. On September 25, 1894, the corner stone to 
a Masonic Temple of fine architecture and ample dimensions was laid on Broad street at the head of 
Bank, and in 1895 the building was dedicated to the uses of the order. It is one of the noble public 
structures of the city, and tells its own story of the character of the organization that caused its erection. 

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Bridgeport on June 11, 1841, by the 
institution of Pequonnock Lodge No. 4, two years after the introduction of the order into the State. 
This was followed twenty-six years later (1867) by the institution of Steuben Lodge No. S^. The order 
became flourishing and the character of its members was excellent. Today there are fifteen lodges 
and associations of Odd Fellows in Bridgeport, and in point of membership it stands easily first of the 
fraternal organizations. 

The parent lodge of the Knights of Pythias, Mythia Lf)dge No. 6 was established in 1S67, and 
the order has taken a very firm hold upon the city. There are eleven lodges and associations connected 
with it, and its charitable and social work is ex- 
tensive and increasing. 

The Knights of Columbus have four Coun- 
cils in Bridgeport; the Foresters of America 
twelve Courts and Circles; the United American 
Mechanics, seven societies, and the temperance 
organizations number twelve. The Improved 
Order of Red Men has two lodges. 

There is a flourishing chapter of the Daughters 
of the American Revolution — The Mary Silliman 
branch of the Connecticut Society. It meets every 
month in the rooms of the Historical Society, 
Barnum Institute. The Sons of the American 
Revolution, General Gould Sellick Silliman, branch 
of the Connecticut .Society, have a large organiza- 
tion, and the interest in the objects of the Society 
is great. 

Taken altogether there are, including the 
great orders. Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of 
Pythias, Foresters, etc., about two hundred and 
fifty societies, clubs and associations in Bridgeport, 
and it is doubtful if any town of its size on earth 
has more. Adding to these the guilds, unions and 
other auxiliarj' societies connected with the 
churches, and also the more public charitable in- 
stitutions and associations, and the number as- 
sumes truly formidable proportions. 



) . /' / \j/,r//. 




Arch after Blizzard of 



AMUSE.MKNTS. 



In the early days of the city the amusements of the people were the especial care of the City Fathers 
There were no theatres and only an occasional "dramatic lyccum" exhibited in some hall, or an, 
entirely "moral show" of the circus variety, pitched its tents just outside the precincts, or, for a 
consideration, was allowed in the city. The state law was strict in "the fifties," and required active 
supervision of such things by the city authorities. On April 14, 185 1, the proprietor of the Stanley 
House, a hotel situated on the corner of Main street and South avenue, was permitted by the Council 
to "erect a bowling alley and billiard table on said premises, to be used solely for purposes of health 
and recreation." In September of the same year another billiard room was permitted, this time Hall 
& Hitchcock being the proprietors. Col. O. B. Ball, a member of the Council was one of the firm, 
and the billiard room was "to be used solely for health and recreation, and subject to the supervision 
of the Common Council." Mr. Franklin Sherwood gravely suggests that as the business of Hall & 
Hitchcock was the wholesale and retail liquor trade, it was "handy for the members of the Council 
to keep a supervision over it, and a number of them were in the habit of doing so. " In 1852 Mr. E. W. 



THE '-STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



Fairchild, keeper of the Sterling- House on Main street was allowed to erect a billiard table and nothing 
was said about "health and recreation " in the permission. Robinson & Elder's circus was licensed 
for two days (July 23-24) that year, for the payment of $75 into the city treasury. This is said to have 
been the first circus exhibition ever given in the city. "The Greatest Show On Earth" had not 
then arrived. 

The first theatrical performance, given every day for any considerable time, was by George H. 
Wyatt, who, on November 30, 1S52, was allowed to exhibit his Dramatic Lyceum at Baylies' Hall on 
State street (now the Berkshire Flats) on paying $10 to the city treasury for the first week and $5 
weekly thereafter. Mr. Wyatt must have made it pay, for on the nth of the following April the 
Council voted that Mr. Wyatt might exhibit his Dramatic Lyceum for two weeks longer on the pay- 
ment of $25 per week to the city. 

MODERN THEATRES. 

Franklin Hall, on State street, was for years the largest and most convenient hall for public 
purposes in the city. It was the second building from the corner of Main street, on the north side of 

State and south of the Court House lot. It was 
owned by Lewis C. Segee, and in 1869-70 Mr. 
Segee built an Opera House on the property 
south of the hall and on the corner of State and 
Main streets, where the old Franklin House had 
stood. The Opera House was opened in Decem- 
ber, 1870, and for a number of years gave to 
Bridgeport excellent theatrical entertainments, 
with such representatives of the histrionic art 
as J. W. Wallack, Edwin Booth. Lawrence 
Barrett, Joseph Jeiferson, Edwin Adams, John 
Brougham, Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams, 
Laura Keene, Janauscheck, Maggie Mitchell, 
Madame Marie Seeback and Clara Louise Kel- 
logg. In 1875 the property changed hands, and 
the Opera House and Franklin Hall were con- 
verted into office buildings. 

In 1S76-77 Mr. E. V. Hawes, a retired 
wholesale merchant, built on Fairfield avenue, 
next east of the Standard building, an Opera 
House which was opened to the public Monday, 
April 9, 1877. This was successfully managed 
for some years by Mr. John N. Near, and after- 
ward by several others, including Mr. G. B. 
Bunnell. It is still maintained and affords the public of Bridgeport a pleasant and comfortable place 
for theatrical performances, concerts, exhibitions and public meetings of every kind. It is well 
designed, finely fitted up, has a large and well appointed stage, and since it was opened, in 1877, has 
given to the people of Bridgeport the best theatrical attractions outside the great cities. In music and 
the drama have appeared there Theodore Thomas, Rubenstein, Von Bulow, Janauscheck, Joseph 
Jefferson, Frank Mayo, John McCullough, Denman Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Florence, Fanny 
Davenport, John T. Raymond, Miss Clara Morris, Miss Mary Anderson, Sol. Smith Russell, Col. Cody 
(Buffalo Bill), Maud Granger, F. C. Bangs, F. S. Chanfrau, Robson and Crane, Lotta, Miss Emma 
Thursby, Rose Eytinge, Miss Emma Abbott, Mr. Gillette, Kate Claxton, M'lle Rhea, and more 
recently all the leading lights of the American stage. 

When P. T. Barnum built Recreation Hall on Main street, west side, below State, 1883, he left 
an admirable place for a theatre in the hall, gymnasium, skating rink, etc., and the building was 
subsequently changed over into a very attractive and comfortable theatre known as " The Auditorium," 
where performances are regularly given during the season. 

There are numerous parks and pleasure grounds handy to the city, where, in the season, recreation 




Fairtield Avenue. 



Railroad Crossing- 



THE "STASDARirS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



99 



may be found. Pleasure Beach is one of these, and it can be reached by steamboat or ferry, at all 
hours of the day, and affords the usual entertainment of an up-to-date shore resort. A baseball park 
and cement bicycle track are among the attractions. Avon Park, on the line of the Stratford branch of 
the electric railroad, has also baseball grounds, a picnic grove, etc. 



Since the days of Nichols' tavern, where "Washington was wont to refresh himself, and the later 
date of Knapp's Hotel, from the balcon}' of which General Lafayette greeted the people, the hotels in 
Bridgeport have been numerous. To-day they are; The Atlantic, on the corner of Fairfield avenue 
and Water street, where Col. T. B. Warren worthily succeeds Hale, Lamb and Poland, in keeping a 
most excellent house; The Windsor, corner of Fairfield avenue and Middle street; the Gaillaird, on 
State street; the Wilson House, on John street; The Arlington, Golden Hill and others. For years the 
Sterling House, on Main street, and the City Hotel, on Wall street, were two of the principal hotels of 
the place. These have been discontinued many years and the property utiliz.cd for other business 
purposes. 



Place," stood, probably for 




THK HISTORIC OAK. 

On a lot of land on Fairfield avenue, known for years as the " l-iurr 
over 300 years, a sturdy oak tree. 
It was a large tree in 1660, when 
the parish of Stratfield was settled, 
and imder it Colonel John Burr 
held a meeting and council of the 
Indians in 1681, when deeds were 
passed and the title to Indian Ter- 
ritory acquired. The land was 
held in the Burr family for many 
years, and the old oak was a pic- 
turescjue and historic object, until, 
in 1S84, when its remaining 
branches and decayed trunk 
yielded to the storm and it was 
overthrown. 

lilK lU.IZZARI). 

Among the events not soon to i,..^i i,i,<.K>:i"'ii ..itL-r the Blizzard <if i-r . 

be forgotten by those who were in 

Bridgeport at the time, was the tremendous fall of snow in what is called "the blizzard of 1888." The 
storm raged through the 12th, 13th and 14th of March, and an amount of snow fell unparalleled in the 
history of the town. On the i6th of the month the first mail train reached Bridgeport from New York 
from early on the 12th, and surrounding towns were likewise cut off and buried for a time. Drifts 
were twenty-five and thirty feet deep in many places, and in the country districts some lives 
were lost. 

SOME OCCASIONS. 

Bridgeport celebrated the national centennial year, 1876, appropriately, and her own semi-centennial 
as a city, on July 3d and 4th, 1888, as more convenient than the real date, 1886. She has entertained 
several of the cruisers of the new navy at different times, and in September, 1891, had nearly all of 
the "White Squadron " in her waters, the officers of which were welcomed ashore in becoming style. 
She has a reputation for hospitality as well as for enterprise, and she maintains both in a reasonable 
and reputable way. 

KLECTKICITY. 

In the Bridgeport .S'/<2«(/r?rr/ of November 15, 1845, it is announced that "The Boston and New 
York Magnetic TelcTfraohic Co., will have a station in this citv. The line is to be finished as soon as 



THE " STASDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



practicable." On December 23d of that year "the posts have been set nearly as far as Sprini^-field." 
On May 19, 1S46, the Standard says: "The placing of the wires has been commenced in this 
vicinity. ***** 

"The war news has been furnished with great rapidity notwithstanding the delay in crossing the 

Susquehannah, and the fact that 
the New York station must be kept 
in Jersey City. When means are 
found for crossing the rivers 
* * * a message can, if neces- 
sary, be sent from Washington to 
Portland, Me., or to BuiTalo, and 
an answer returned in twenty 
minutes. * * * 1,500 milesor 
so in twenty minutes is a very fair 
speed." 

In October of that year the 
Standard speaks of a severe storm 
in which "the tall telegraph pole 
at the bridge was taken down 
bodily and fell upon the factory of 
Messrs. Harrall & Calhoun, 
breaking in the roof and knocking 
off two of the chimneys.* * * 
The top mast of the pole at Wash- 
ington Bridge was also carried away. These disasters will of course put an end to telegraph operation ^ 
for some time. " 

This reads strangely now, in the light of recent invention and discovery, but thus was brought to 
public notice about fifty years ago, almost contemporaneously with the railroad, a force that was in the 
future to work miracles for even a wonder-working age, and in the very field of steam's highest 
achievement, to surpass it in the annihilation of time and space. 




of Bridgeport After the 




STANDARD ECII.DINl 



CHAPTER XX. 



^t ^^nbgcj^orl ^lauimrt. 




L_-:rL-r.-_| ittiiiiiSBii. 



WHOSE FAULTi 



Cofoner Trying to Plac 
Blame Properly. 

tnvuter BMd Dtd Not HM1j ib 



THE STANDARD. 

IN the year 1S30 Mr. I'xlmuiul Fanton started a weekh- paper in the then flourishing town of 
^ Bridgeport, under the name of The Bridgeport Republican. It was in the days of Bridgeport's 
early prosperity during the old turnpike era, when the " Port and Borough of Bridgeport " was the 
distributing center for the produce of the rich interior towns, ten years before the opening of the first 
railroad. The newspaper venture of Mr. Fanton lasted for nearly a decade, but in 1S39 he sold out 
his plant to Mr. A. A. Pettingill, who 
changed the name of the paper to 'I he 
Republican Standard, and continued it as 
a weekly, he being editor, proprietor and 
publisher. In the spring of 1S48 Mr. 
Julius S. Hanover was taken into the 
business, and the paper was published 
by the fii-m of Pettingill & Hanover 
till the year 1863. It prospered under 
the management of the firm, and in 
1853 a tri-weekly edition was published, 
followed in 1854 by a daily edition. In 
1863 Mr. John D. Candee, of New 
Haven, purchased the plant and paper, 
and conducted it for a few years as 
editor and proprietor, and then on 
January i, 1867, "The Standard Asso- 
ciation " was organized, with a capital 
stock of $30,000, which has since been 
largely increased. The office of publi- 
cation was at that time on Water street, 
at the foot of Bank street, and there it 
continued imtil 1870, when increasing 
business necessitated larger accommo- 
dations, and the present handsome 
brick building, on the corner of Fairfield 
avenue and Middle street, was erected. 
The Standard Association was organ- 
ized (1867), with John I). Candee, 
President; J. W. Knowlton, Secretary 
and Treasurer. Mr. Knowlton was also 
business manager for about ten years. 
Mr. Candee was editor in-chief. Major 

L. N. Middlebrook, associate editor, and Mr. B. F. Ashley, city editor and reporter. In 1867 Mr. 
Ashley was succeeded by Mr. George C. Waldo, who, two years later, acquired a part of the interest 
of Major Middlebrook, and became associate editor, a position which he occupied until the death of 
Mr. Candee, in 1888, when he became editor-in-chief. 

Mr. Waldo was succeeded as city editor by Mr. S. O. Canfield, who subsequently became business 
manager, and was followed as citv editor bv Mr. Alexander Wheeler, who in turn also became 



ng53r-53lg^ 









■iSK-Si'=^^-.2 






Bcpivblicnn^tmi^art, 



I02 THE "STANDARD'S'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

business manager, Mr. L. C. Prindle succeeding him as city editor. Mr. Prindle was followed by 
Mr. F. C. Smith, and he by Mr. Frank W. Bolande and Mr. A. B. Underwood, and the latter by Mr. 
Henry E. Shannon, the present city editor. Mr. Alexander Wheeler was business manager until his 
death in 1887, when he was succeeded by Wm. H. Parrott, who died in 1891, and was followed bj' 
Mr. S. O. Canfield, and he in 1893 by Mr. Frederick H. Stevens, the present business manager. The 
job department has been conducted by Mr. Patrick Wade for about twenty-five years. From its 
comparatively small beginning in 1863, the Standard \\a.& grown with the increase of the city, and its 
daily and weekly editions have a wide circulation and a very excellent patronage. Under Mr. Candee 
the tone of the paper was always high, its political principles loyally Republican, and its hold upon 
the best portion of the community strong and firmly maintained. It seeks to be reliable rather than 
sensational, to further the best interests of the public, to maintain law, order and morality, and to 

secure by merit the respect and support 
of the people. It is the leading Republi- 
can and family journal in Western Con- 
necticut, and has always been a power for 
good in the commimity. 

The Standard was issued as a four- 
page paper till 1S90, when the present 
eight-page form, now almost universal, 
was adopted. Its facilities are excellent, 
and its enterpiuse and reliability pro- 
verbial. The officers of the Association 
at present are: President, George C. 
Waldo; Vice-President, A. B. Beers; 
Secretary and Treasurer, Frederick H. 
Stevens; Directors, the preceding, with 
Charles Sherwood and Patrick Wade. The 
editorial corps consists of George C. 
Waldo, editor-in-chief; W. G. Taylor, 
telegraph editor; Henry E. Shannon, 
city editor, and Albert E. Laverj', W. H. 
Doyle and Selden C. Waldo, reporters. 
Frederick H. Stevens is business manager 
and Robert B. French, accountant ; Patrick 
Wade, manager of the mechanical and 
job department, and E. W. Challenger, 
foreman of the composing room. 



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^_ .. : _ - '.'^ - ' '--^^^^^^^^ JOHN DUTTON CAXDEE was 

^t£:-. : ■ ' ''■ " ":"• born June 12, 1819, in the town of 

^^Ht?:' /:-M Pompey, Onondaga County, New York. 

v.- . ::"£x- His parents were Benjamin Candee and 

■•- ! , . .. : ,r- -. ■, i. 7 . - , ...-.■.:"-= Almira (Dutton) Candee, both of Oxford, 

Conn. He had three sisters and one 
brother older than himself, and one sister younger. His paternal ancestors were a frugal, industrious, 
hospitable, common-sense, " well-to-do " race. On the maternal side they were devoted to learning, 
music, intellectual and moral and religous pursuits, indifferent to money (if not improvident), kind 
and sympathetic. He was descended from the earliest settlers of New England. On the paternal 
side, he was of Huguenot descent, the Candees coming from the French condc, and on the maternal 
side, from an old English family, the Dutton s having been known in England for about a thousand 
years past, and some of them were intimate friends and associates of Oliver Cromwell. His 
prominent characteristics were derived from each of his parents. He loved learning, delighted in 
hospitality, was frugal and industrious, benevolent, religious, full of public spirit, and midway 
between acquisitiveness and improvidence. He often said that the greatest pleasure he ever derived 




Hon. John Duttun Cande 




eorge Curtis Waldn 



THE '■ STANDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRHXJEI'ORT. 103 

from money was when he gave it away, and there was nothing in his life at which he felt so much 
like complaining as the fact that he was not provided with money enough to gratify this inclination 
in a large way. His parents moved from Pompey back to Connecticut about 1825. His father having 
taken some contracts on the Farmington canal, the family resided in that town about one year, when 
they removed to Cheshire, where his father died, leaving a widow with six children, from six weeks to 
fifteen years old. without any means of support. His mother moved to New Haven, and being a 
woman of great firmness, of wonderful endurance, of uncommon intellect and devotion to her family, 
she struggled with almost superhuman efforts to maintain her large family, by her personal labor in 
a strange city, without friends or acquaintances, there or elsewhere, who were able to alleviate her 
toil. The terrible struggle for existence which he witnessed in those years of suffering produced 
upon his mind a deep and abiding impression, and gave him some idea of the wonderful power, 
resources, devotion and self sacrifice of which women are capable, and made him through life a friend 
of the widow and the fatherless in their need. When nine and a half years old he walked to Oxford to 
live on a farm with his great uncle. Captain Job Candee, and he always regarded his three years' residence 
on the farm as exceedingly beneficial to him, in the observations he made in the lives and conversation 
of that shrewd, common-sense class of men— the farmers. Captain Candee was a soldier in the 
Revolution, and from listening ^o his stories of the war, he caught those sentiments of patriotism 
which controlled all his subsequent conduct in public matters. When about ten years old, he learned 
something about the institution of slavery, and he instinctively felt the supreme wrong of such a 
system so strongly that he was ever afterward an abolitionist, and was always ready to do all in his 
power for the emancipation of slaves, wherever they were held in bondage. 

When thirteen years old, he went to work in a printing office as a " roller boy," and continued to 
labor at that trade in different offices for ten years, until he fully mastered every department of that 
art. He became strongly attached to the trade, chiefly because he regarded it as the greatest of all 
influences ever exerted for the improvement of mankind, religion only excepted. He was always 
proud of having been a practical printer. 

Being fond of reading and study, and living in Xew Haven, where Yale College was constantly 
before liis eyes and in his thoughts, it was natural that he .should earnestly desire to go through that 
University, and though without means, he finally decided to make the attempt. He had studied 
Latin a little, while at work in the printing office, and with this start went to the Academy, in 
Hamilton, Madison County, New York, and was able to prepare for admission to college in one year. 
He entered Madi.son University in the fall of 1842; he remained there two term.s, and in the following 
spring left that University and joined the Freshmen class in Yale, graduating in 1847. The next two 
years he spent in Yale Law School, under the tuition of Governors BisscU and Dutton. After 
graduation he went to Iowa in the fall of 1849, intending to practice law in that state, hut returned 
to New Haven in 1850 without having opened an office. 

For the five following years he was the prosecuting grand juror of New Haven, and it fell to his 
lot to enforce the Maine law, which he did with complete success. After that, for seven years, he 
practiced law in New Haven, being city attorney for two of those years. He was always harrassed 
with an uncontrollable diffidence, which he hoped to master in course of time, but after havmg been 
at the bar for twelve years, and finding that this feeling had been enormously increased instead of 
diminished, he determined to quit a profession in which that peculiarity made him miserable, although 
he had received a satisfactory income. In looking for some other business, he finally decided to 
become an editor, and with that in view he edited the Neiv Haven Journal and Courier io-a three 
months, during the absence of the editor in the fall of 1862. Finding that profession congenial to his 
tastes, he subsequently purchased a two-thirds interest in the Bridgeport Standard, and entered upon 
his new duties, September 12, 1863. On the 29th of October following, he married Miss Sallie 
Bryant Smith, daughter of Rev. S. F. Smith, D.D., of Newton Centre, Mass. Three daughters 
blessed this union, which proved to be very loving and happy. 

When Mr. Candee assumed control of the Standard he adopted certain rules to be followed 111 
its conduct, to which he strenuously adhered. The first was to admit nothing to its columns which 
would have an irreligous or immoral tendency. Also to avoid those personalities in journalism which 
are so unfortunate! v common. Very soon after coming here, he called upon :\Ir. Poniroy, the editor 
of the Farmer, and thev both agreed to avoid all unpleasant allusions in their respective journals. 



I04 THE '' STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

and though there were subsequently thousands of attacks made upon him in that and other papers, 
many of them doing him the grossest injustice, yet he very rarely, if ever, replied to any of them. 
His motto was: "If my daily life does not vindicate me, in the community, my paper shall not." He 
considered that space in any newspaper was much better filled with the current news of the day than in 
personal vindication of the editor, and acted accordingly. He determined to be just in all things, 
toward all men, and not allow personal dislikes to affect anything published in the Standard, and 
often refrained from printing criticisms upon the conduct of those who had done their utmost to injure 
him lest personal feeling might lead him into great severity. He merely, in such cases, dropped their 
acquaintance, spoke favorably of them in the paper whenever there was any occasion for favorable 
notice, and very rarely, if ever, criticised their conduct. He desired to be just towards all men, and 
if he ever swerved from that rule, to err on the side of mercy, not severity. There may be some to 
whom the above will explain the reason why they did not find articles in the Standard, which would 
have been unpleasant reading to them. But while he could thus forbear towards those who sought 
to injure himself, he had no such tenderness for persons or parties who sought to prey upon or corrupt 
the public, and he never hesitated to hold them up in the severest terms. 

In political questions he always took the deepest interest, and it was purely disinterested. He 
never sought offices of profit or honor but once, and at one time refused to take a very lucrative official 
position (which was said to be worth $8,000 a year), which he was strongly urged to accept, " because," 
he said, " I would not have it even seem to any one that my political work is done for any personal 
advantage." More than this, in times of very important national elections, as in 1856, he repeatedly 
said he would give his life for the cause, if by so doing he assured its success. 

His mind was early directed towards the subject of religion, and he became a member of the First 
Baptist Church, in New Haven, in 1835, in his sixteenth year. Though firmly believing that that 
church was nearer to the Apostolic Church than any other in its doctrines and ordinances, yet he 
always held the other Protestant churches in the highest esteem, as they all hold in common the great 
fundamental doctrine of Christianity, and his advice to others was, "Join that church in which you 
can make the greatest religious and moral progress." In morals his strongest characteristic was 
honesty in all things. He never claimed credit for this, because it was his nature, and he could not 
be otherwise. He never consciously wronged a human being out of a penny; he even refused to 
make what is called " good bargains," that is, to get more for one's money than the money is worth, 
but used always to say, " charge me for this what it is worth, with a fair profit; that is the way I wish 
others to trade with me, and so I wish to trade with others." He strove to be as honest in his 
judgments of others in his words concerning them and in all things else, as he was in his business 
dealings. He never loved money well enough to be even willing to gain a single cent by any means 
whatever, which he was not willing the whole world should know. He adhered to the Republican 
party devotedly, because he firmly believed it w^orked solely for the best good of mankind, and is the 
purest political part)' that ever existed. He was enthusiastically devoted to the cause of human 
liberty, and did all in his power to help it along among all nations, regardless of race, color or 
religion, and was impatient of those shams, by which kingcraft, priestcraft, or any other craft 
restricted the political or religious liberty of mankind. He thoroughly believed in the vast importance 
of universal education, the higher the better, and favored the public expenditure of any amount of 
money requisite to bring educational advantages within the reach of all. 

In business matters his motto was, "Live and let live," being fully as willing to give fair 
prices to others as to receive them for himself, thinking that all will prosper much better, if a fair 
field is given to each, than they can when one preys upon another. Towards his workmen he always 
held the kindest feeling and gladly paid them the best prices. Having been a workingman himself, 
he knew their toil, their privations and the difficulties which surrounded them, and therefore he was 
their sympathizing friend, and glad to aid them in any way possible. In his editorial career he 
always felt exceedingly cramped for space, which prevented him from realizing his own ideal in a 
newspaper; nevertheless, he had the pleasure of suggesting and advocating many public improvements 
which were adopted by the city, many projects of law which were enacted by the state or bj' the 
United States, and many ideas on various subjects which were adopted by the public. He felt 
gratified with his nomination by the Republicans of the state for Lieutenant-Governor in 1882, as he 
regarded that honor as a mark of approval of his political labors by his party, and the satisfaction 




Patrick \V;i< 




Frederick H. Stevens 



THE "STAXDARD'S HISTORY OF DRIDGHl'ORT. 105 

which that feeling- gave them greatly overbalanced any disappointment felt at the polls. Under Mr. 
Candee's direction the Standard took and maintained a high place as a reliable, clean and honorable 
journal. After the election of 1882, Mr. Candee continued his management of the Standard, but gave 
up active participation in its editorial conduct in 1887, owing to ill health. He remained the President 
of the Association, however, until the time of his death, in 1888, and took part in the meetings of the 
directors to the last. Under his management the paper grew to be a very successful and very 
influential institution, and while conservative and prudent, he was quick to see and adopt a real 
improvement in any department of his business. In the Council and on the Board of Directors of the 
Public Library, he served the city and the interests of the public, faithfully and well. He was 
especially interested in the development and success of the Library, and was President of the Board of 
Directors at the time of his death. 

GEORGE CURTIS WALDO was born in Lynn, Mass., March 20, 1837, and is the eldest son of 
the late Rev. J. C. Waldo, of New London, Conn. Deacon Cornelius Waldo was the first of the name 
to come to this country, and he emigrated from England in 1654, and settled in Massachusetts, and from 
him all branches of the Waldo family in this country have sprung. The ancestry of Dr. Cornelius 
goes back to Thomas Waldo, brother of Peter Waldo, founder of the Waldenses, 11 70. On his 
mother's side Mr. Waldo is from the old Huguenot family. Ballon, his mother being Elmina, daughter 
of the late Rev. Hosea Ballon, of Boston, and cousin of Eliza Ballon, mother of James A. Garfield. 
Mr. Waldo was graduated at Tufts College, Massachusetts, in i860; studied law in the office of the 
Hon. A. C. Lippitt, in New London, Conn., and from that office enlisted with Mr. T. M. Waller, in 
the first company that went from New London, in the campaign of 1861. Having served through the 
campaign, Mr. Waldo, on account of impaired health, abandoned the study of law and engaged in 
active business, and in 1867 became connected with T/ie Bridgeport Standard &s city editor and local 
reporter. Two years later he became associate editor, under the late John D. Candee, and retained 
that position until the death of Mr. Candee in 1888, when he was made editor-in-chief, which position 
he still holds. Mr. Waldo has been connected with the Standard for over thirty years. In 1874 he 
married, in New Orleans, Annie, daiighter of Major Frederick Frye, formerly of Bridgeport, and 
their children are, Selden Connor, Rosalie Hillman, Maturin Ballou and George Curtis, Jr. Mrs. 
Waldo is great-great-granddaughter of Colonel James Frye, of Andover, Mass., who commanded a 
regiment at Bunker Hill. Mr. Waldo has been for nearly twenty years a member of the vestry of 
Christ Episcopal Church, and was for four years its junior Warden. He was with the late Rev. Dr. 
H. N. Powers, one of the founders of the Bridgeport Scientic Society, and for five years its Secretary, 
and he is Vice-President of the Fairfield County Historical Society. He was for five years a member 
of the Bridgeport Board of P^ducation, for two years Chairman of the Committee on Schools, and was 
one of the Committee for the Town and the School Board, which built the High School Building on 
Congress street. He was first President of the old Eclectic Club, was for three years Vice-President, 
and two years President of the Seaside Club, is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a 
member of the Army and Navj^ Club of Connecticut, and of a number of fraternal organizations. He 
is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Scciety, (Delta Chapter of Massachusetts), and has been one of 
the .Shell Fish Commissioners of the State of Connecticut for eight years, and for four years Chairman 
of the Board. He is a Republican in politics, and has been for several years an officer of the Republi- 
can Club of Bridgeport. In 1887 Mr. Waldo was appointed Commissary General of the State, on the 
staff of Governor Lounsbury, but for business reasons was compelled to decline the position. 

FREDERICK HOLLISTER STEVENS.— The Stevens family is an old one, and of English 
origin. Seven brothers of that name are said to have left England about the year 1638, for reasons 
that were disapproved by the crown, and their property was confiscated. The amount lost was large, 
and several unsuccessful attempts to recover all or a portion of it have since been made. A place in 
London is still known as " Stevens Square." John Stevens, of Newbury, Mass., was one of the seven 
brothers, and he was the grandfather of the Rev. Timothy Stevens, of Glastonbury, first minister of 
the Church of Christ in that town. Timothy Stevens was born in Roxbury, Mass., January 28, 1666. 
He graduated at Harvard in 1687, and moved to Glastonbury in 1692. He was called to the Church 
of Christ in Glastonbury in that year, and was ordained at the completion of the church in the follow- 



io6 



THE '•STANDARD'S'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



ing year, 1693. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, and was pastor in Glastonbury until 
1726, when he died. Frederick HoUister Stevens, the subject of this sketch, is a lineal descendant of 
the Rev. Timothy Stevens. He was born in Meriden, October 19, 1856, and is the son of the late 
Joseph Hollister and Laura E. Post Stevens. Another ancestor of Mr. Stevens, was Lieutenant John 
Hollister, who was born in England in 161 2, and came to this country in 1642. He settled finally in 
Glastonbury, and lived in the old Hollister homestead, which is still standing, and is the oldest frame 
hou.se in Connecticut. It was occupied, vintil recently, by members of the Hollister family. Mr. 
Frederick Hollister Stevens, though born in Meriden, is thus of Glastonbury stock. He was educated 
in the public schools of Meriden, and moved with his family to Hartford in 1873. At the age of 
seventeen he entered the large wholesale and retail dry goods house of Brown, Thomson & Co., of 
Hartford, as assistant cashier, and in five years worked his way to the highest position in the financial 
department of the business. He remained twelve years with this firm, and then entered the First 
National Bank of Hartford, intending to make banking his business, but in 1893 he was induced to 
leave Hartford and take charge of the business department of the Standard Association, becoming 
Secretary, Treasurer and Business Manager of that corporation at that time, which position he still 
holds. On October 4, 1892, Mr. Stevens married Almira Louise, eldest daughter of the late Hon. 
John D. Candee, of Bridgeport, and granddaughter of the Rev. Dr. S. F. Smith, author of "America." 
Mr. Stevens is a veteran of Company K, First Regiment, C. N. G., of Hartford, a member of the 
Connecticut branch, Sons of the American Revolution, a member of the Seaside Club, of Bridgeport, 
and also of a number of other social and fraternal oroanizations. 



GEORGE R. STOWELL, the veteran compositor on the 
Standard, was born in the town of Guilford, Conn., in 1827. He 
learned his trade, as a printer, in Norwich, and after that worked 
for two years on the New Haven Palladiuiit. In September, 1849 
he came to Bridgeport and went to work as a compositor on the 
Standard, and has been so employed ever since, and will complete 
his forty-eighth year of continuous type-setting on this paper, in 
September next, (1897). Mr. Stowell is a good citizen, a man of 
excellent character, and one who enjoys the respect of a large circle 
of friends. 

PATRICK WADE, the subject of this brief sketch, is one of 
the best known residents of the city. He was born in Douras, 
County Galway, Ireland, March 18, 1844, and came to Bridgeport 
with his parents in November, 1849. He received his early educa- 
tion in the local public schools. In 1856 he began his career on a 
farm just outside the city, but the mechanical genius inborn with 
him, craved for an opportunity, and he was not satisfied with his 
agricultural labors. So in 1858 he returned to this city and 
became an apprentice boy in the mechanical department of the 
Farmer office. He remained there, solvmg the mysteries of the 
printing art, until 1862. 
Itwasin 1862, at the age of seventeen years, he enlisted in Company K, 17th Connecticut Volunteers, 
and in this company he served until the close of the war. At the Battle of Chancellorsville he was 
promoted to Corporal for good behavior in action. At the Battle of Gettysburg, he was made Sergeant 
for meritorious conduct. He was second in command of a squad of twelve men, who recaptured the 
town of Gettysburg, on the morning of July 4, 1863, and furnished the waiting army with the news 
that Lee had retreated, and the battle was won. The squad of twelve captured forty-six prisoners. 

Upon Mr. Wade's return from the war he came to the Standard office, August 23, 1865, and he has 
been one of the main supports of the Standard Association ever since. He has long been a Stockholder, 
a Director and the Superintendent of the mechanical department. To his excellent judgment has 
been due in a large measure the Standard's steady and prosperous growth. His ambition has always 
been to make the Standard one of the cleanest, handsomest and best journals in Connecticut, and 




lie StaiiJaid's \ 
George R. Stu 



THE "STANDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



107 



certainly much of its success has been clue to his zeal and ability. He is familiar with every detail of 
the printing- business, and his practical knowledge has been invaluable to the publication in which he 
has always taken so much pride. 

Mr. Wade has repeatedly declined public office, although his worth was known and appreciated 
by the Republican party, whose cause he has ever loyally supported. During the administration of 
Governor P. C. Lounsbury, Mr. Wade was offered the position of Quarter-Master General of Con- 
necticut, but he declined the honor. The cause of the old solider, how-ever, has always been dear 
to him, and through his efforts, two handsome monuments for the 17 th Connecticut have been 
erected on the battle field of Gettysburg. Mr. Wade has been Treasurer of the 17th Regiment 
Association for the last fifteen years. He is also a member of the Sacred Heart R. C. Church, the 
Army and Navy Club, and the Elias Howe, Jr., Post, No. 3, G. A. R. He is a gentleman of unswerv- 
ing integrity, loyal to his friends and respected by all who have ever known him. 




^il(J5»,y. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



BIOGRAPHY.— LEGAL PROFESSION. 

LION. ALFRED BISHOP BEERS was born at New Rochelle, N. Y., April 23, 1845, and is the 
^ ' son of Alfred Beers, who was identified with the Naug-atuck Railroad from 1851 to 1886. The 
ancestry of Mr. Beers upon the male side of the line is traced back to the Beers family of Gravesend 
and Dartford, Kent County, England. The more immediate ancestor was James Beers, of Gravesend, 
Kent County, England, who died in 1635, leaving two sons. James and Anthony, who emigrated 

shortly after to Watertown, Mass., and 
removed from there to Fail-field, Conn. , in 
1659. Anthony was a mariner and was 
lost at sea in 1676, leaving a son Ephraim, 
who was born in 1648, and died leaving a 
son Ephraim, who died in 1759, leaving a 
son Daniel, who was born 1745, who 
removed to Ridgefield, Conn., and served 
in the Continental Army and was present 
at the attack on Danbury, and engagement 
at Ridgefield by Tyron, in 1777, and died 
1820. He left a son Edmund, born 1768, 
who died 1843, leaving a son Jonathan, 
born 1789, who settled at Vista, West- 
chester Co., N. Y., and died in 1868, and 
who was grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch. His mother's maiden name was 
Mary E. Bishop, her father being Leander 
Bishop, of Stamford, Conn., who was a 
brother of Alfred Bishop, late of Bridge- 
port, Conn., now deceased, a well-known 
contractor and builder of railroads, especi- 
ally of the Naugatuck Railroad ; their 
father was William Bishop, of Stamford, 
Conn., who was a descendent of John 
Bishop, one of the first ministers to Stam- 
ford, Conn. His grandmother was a 
descendent of Dr. Charles McDonald, a 
Scotchman by birth, who came to this 
country shortly before the Revolutionary 
War, and upon the breaking out of hostil- 
ities, enlisted in the Continental army 
and served during the entire war, partici- 
pating in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, 
and also in the battle of White Plains, N. Y., in 1776, where he distinguished himself by his bravery. 
After the close of the war he entered the medical profession and practiced successfully at Port Chester, 
N. Y., until his death, which occurred about 1842. 

Alfred B. Beers removed to Bridgeport in 185 1, and was educated in the public schools of that 
city. He enlisted September 5, 1861, for a term of three years as private in Company I, Sixth 
Connecticut Volunteers. This regiment was attached to the Tenth Army Corps, and participated in 




Hon. Alfred B. Beer 



THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 109 

the bombardment of Hilton Head, S. C, battle of Pocataligo, S. C, (he was honorably mentioned in 
the report of the General commanding, for bravery and meritorous conduct in that engagement), also 
in the siege of Fort Pulaski, Ga., actions at James Island, S. C, Morris Island, siege and assault on 
Fort Wagner, and siege of Charleston, S. C. ; re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer in same regiment and 
was engaged in the campaign of 1864 against Richmond, siege of Petersburg, Va., engagements at 
Deep Bottom, Deep Run, where he was wounded, Chapin's Farm, and Laurel Hill, on the north side 
of the James river in 1864; he was promoted from First Sergeant of Company I, to Captain of 
Company B, in same regiment, and was engaged in the bombardment, charge, and capture of Fort 
Fisher, N. C, under General Terry, January, 1865, and advance upon Goldsboro, N. C, April, 1865, 
and was discharged from the service at New Haven, Conn., August 21, 1865, being then about twenty 
years of age. He then engaged in general business and in study until 1867, when he commenced the 
study of law, and was admitted to the Fairfield County Bar in 187 1. In 1S72 he was Clerk of the City 
Court, in 1875 Assistant City Attorney. In 1877 he was elected by the Legislature, Judge of the City 
Court of the City of Bridgeport and was re-elected continuously until 1893, when he declined a 
re-election. 

As a Judge he discharged the duties of his jiosition with marked fidelity and inflexible honesty, 
holding the scales of justice evenly balanced, and rendering his decisions unmoved by sympathy and 
unawed by clamor. He has been prominently connected with the Grand Army since its organization, 
and was Commander of Elias Howe, Jr., Post, No. 3, G. A. R., located at Bridgeport, also Commander 
of the Department of Connecticut, G. A. R., in 1880-81, and is a member of the New York 
Commandery of the Loyal Legion. He is a member of the Soldiers' Hospital Board of the State of 
Connecticut, a position he has occupied for twelve years, and is Chairman of the Executive Committee, 
and has spent a large amount of time in the last ten years in assisting to perfect that admirable 
institution, Fitch's Home for the Soldiers, and the Connecticut Soldiers' Hospital, at Noroton, Conn. 
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bridgeport Public Library and Reading Room, an 
institution in the foundation of which he took a marked degree of interest. He is also a Director in 
the Standard Association, publishers of the JWidgcport Daily Standard, The Eaton, Cole & Burnham 
Co., and The Bridgeport Electric Light Co., and a member of The Board of Governors of the Seaside 
Club, and of the Ma.sonic Fraternity. He has just been appointed City Attorney of the City of 
Bridgeport by the Mayor, for the term of two years from July 1, 1S97, and is President of the 
Bridgeport Bar Association. 

In politics he is a Republican and has taken an active jjart in the affairs of the party, and has 
been a well-known figure as a delegate to most of the State conventions held in the past twenty years. 

He was married, February 29, 1872, to Callie T. House, of Vineland, N. J., daughter of William 
House, who was a brother of Royal E. House, the inventor of the House Printing Telegraph System, 
with whom he was interested, and also took part in the construction of the first telegraph line erected 
in this country, being the line from Baltimore to Washington. Four children are the result of the 
marriage, Alfred B. Beers, Jr., Harry H. Beers, Ralph T. Beers and Mary E. Beers, deceased. 

As a lawyer he is devoted to his chosen profession, and brings to its practice a clear and logical 
mind, a retentive memory, confidence in his cause upon its merits, and a thorough hatred of trickery 
and shams. He is careful in the preparation of his cases, ready in speech as an advocate, and honest 
in his claims for his client, and has taken part in many of the important trials in Fairfield County and 
in arguments before the Supreme Court of the State. He is possessed of a genial and kind nature, 
affable in intercourse with his fellows, with a personal character above reproach, and is esteemed and 
honored by the citizens of Bridgeport as an upright and conscientious christian gentleman. 

DAVID FREDERICK HOLLISTER was born in Washington, Conn., March 31, 1826, where 
he received a common school education. His father, Gideon Hollister, was a well to do farmer, a 
man of sterling integrity, and of much influence in the community in which he lived. David was the 
youngest of the family, having a sister four years and a brother eight years older than himself. 
When he was sixteen years of age the family removed to Woodbury, Conn., where he remained on 
the farm in accordance with his father's earnest wish, for several years. While thus at home on the 
farm, he had the fortune, good or bad, to cut his foot so severely as to interfere with active duties for 
many months, and he finally obtained the consent of liis father to prepare for college. He then 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



determined to enter the Class of '51, though there were then but eleven months before the 
commencement of the term. He made the best use of his time, and at the commencement of the 
term presented himself for examination without having completed, however, quite two-thirds of the 
preparatory course. When he left home for New Haven and bade his friends good-bye, he assured 
them that they would not see him again till he was a member of the Class of '51. though he had 
many misgivings as to his success in passing the examination. To his surprise and great delight, 
however, he passed the Rubicon in safety. This he always attributed in a great measure to an 
experience, serious enough in the time of it, that he had with Professor Kingsley, who examined him 
in Latin. The professor gave hin: an exceedingly tough oration to translate, which he knew at a 

glance could not be trifled with or extem- 



lWi|)))ill'l'!P*iii 

,ffWf' 
wmmm 



porized on with safety, and so he told the 
professor frankly that he could not read 
the selection. ''What, what, young 
gentleman," said the professor, " did you 
not know that this book was in the pre- 
paratory course?" "Yes, sir," replied 
the applicant, "but I did not have time 
after I decided to enter this class to com- 
plete the whole preparatory course." 
The professor commenced to close the 
book, with a look on his face which seemed 
also to the applicant to close the door of 
hope for admission to the class. In a fit 
of desperation the applicant exclaimed, 
' ' I can give you the derivation and mean- 
ing of every word on the page, construct 
the sentences properly, and parse them 
correctly." With a doubtful smile upon his 
face, the professor told him he might try 
it. The trial proved that the applicant 
had a fair knowledge of the principles and 
construction of the Latin language, and 
the professor called a halt. The professor 
then turned to another portion of the 
book and asked if he could read that. It 
was simply a narrative, and the boy replied, 
" I never saw it before, but I can read it," 
which he proceeded to do to the entire 
satisfaction of the professor. " Now, 
yoimg gentleman," said the professor, 
" tell me why you did not attempt to read 
David rre.ierick II.. iiister '^^i" ^^'^^ Selection?" " Becausc, " replied 

he, " it was a speech, and I knew nothing 
whatever of the occasion or subject matter and could not enter into the spirit of it so as to translate 
it intelligently, and knew I should only make a fool of myself if I attempted it." A pleasant smile 
spread over the professor's fatherly face as he expressed himself satisfied ; and he proved ever 
afterward, during the entire college course, a most kind and considerate friend. 

In his Senior year he was elected first President from his class of the Linonian Literary and 
Debating Society, an honor which was then esteemed second to none in college life. Prior to entering 
college he had studied law for a time, and immediately after graduation he entered the law ofifice of 
his brother, the late Gideon H. Hollister, of Litchfield, author of the History of Connecticut, and 
graduate of Yale, Class of '40. In the December following graduation, 185 1, he was admitted to the 
Bar of Litchfield County, and at once removed to Salisbury, Conn., and opened an office for the 
practice of law. In September, 1852, he was married to Miss Mary E. Jackson, of Brooklyn, N. Y. 




THE "STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. in 

a graduate of Packer Institute. In 1S54 he removed to Bridgeport, Conn., where he opened an otTice 
and resumed the practice of law, and where he has since remained, and is now engaged in the practice 
of his profession. 

Soon after moving to Bridgeport he purchased several tracts of land in and about the city, and 
took needed exercise and recreation, and devoted his leisure time in opening up and developing the 
propert}' by streets and avenues, upon which many pleasant homes have been erected, and a flourishing 
village now exists. He received the degree of M. A. in 1866, at Yale. 

He has always been identified with the public institutions and improvements of Bridgeport and 
vicinity, and has been a member of the City Government. In 185S he was elected Judge of Probate 
for the District of Bridgeport, and was re-elected in 1859. August 15, 1862, he was appointed by 
President Lincoln, Collector of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District of Connecticut, and after the 
consolidation of the Second and Fourth Districts, in October, 1873, he was appointed Collector of the 
Consolidated District by President Grant, which office he held continuously until September i, 1883, 
when, upon the consolidation of all the Districts in the State, with office at Hartford, he retired from 
the public service, having been continuously in the office for over twenty-one years, and having 
served under six Presidents, viz: Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield and Arthur. During this 
time he also held the office of Receiver and Disburser of the Public Funds for the Government, and 
was also Receiver of Commutation Money during the War, thus handling in these various offices many 
millions of dollars, without loss to the Government or the discrepancy of a farthing from first to last. 

He was an ardent supporter of the Government during the War of the Rebellion, and although 
not a subject of miHtary duty, by reason of the injury already referred to, and from which he has 
never fully recovered, he procured and sent to the front two good substitutes to represent him on 
the field, while at home he assisted in various ways in rendering those important services which were 
so essential to the success of the cause. By means of his official relations to the Government he was 
brought into frequent contact with President Lincoln and the heads of the various departments at 
Washington, civil and military, and was thus enabled to serve this city and district in several very 
important matters, especially in relation to the provost marshal's office in this district, which at a 
most critical period was a source of much uneasiness and anxiety to those who were engaged in 
recruiting men for the service. Upon moving to Bridgeport he and his late lamented wife, JMary E. 
Hollister, united with the First Presbyterian Church of this city, of which he has since been an active 
member and has devoted mtich time and labor to its welfare. He has been an elder of the church for 
over thirty years, and is now the senior elder and treasurer of the church and one of the Society's 
committee. The beautiful church, chapel, Sunday school building and parsonage of the First Presby- 
tarian Church, corner of State street and Myrtle avenue, Bridgeport, are, in great measure, the result 
of his planning and earnest labors and imflagging zeal, as he was the chairman of the building 
committees and assisted in securing the land for the purpose. All these buildings are beautiful, 
appropriate and convenient, and, as a whole, are unexcelled by any church property in the country. 
He was one of the three original organizers and managers of the Boys' Club of Bridgeport, and 
obtained its cliarter from the Legislature, and is one of its vice-presidents and active in its 
management. 

He is a member of St. John's Lodge F. and A. M., a member of the Board of Trade and of the 
Seaside Club. He has obtained from the Legislature of the State many charters of public interest in 
addition to that of the Boys' Club, among which are the Citizens" Water Company, now consolidated 
with the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, the Bridgeport and West Stratford Horse Railroad Company, 
of which he was President for several years, but which is now consolidated with the Bridgeport Traction 
Company, the Stratford Land and Improvement Company, the City Savings Bank, of which he was 
one of the original incorporators and trustees, and for many years a Vice-President and now the 
President, the Young Men's Christian Association, and others. He is one of the trustees of the 
Bridgeport Orphan Asylum and its legal adviser. His professional life covers forty-three years of 
Bridgeport's history. When he came here there were but seventeen practicing lawyers in the city; two 
of them moved away, four still survive, and the others have all passed to the other shore. He came 
here at an opportune time and at once entered upon an extensive practice, which continued to increase 
till he entered upon the collectorship at the beginning of the war. The duties of this office demanded 
and received the greater portion of his time and his best energies for over twenty-one years, and 



112 THE -STAXDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

upon retiring from office he received the highest testimonials for his long, efficient and faithful 
service. At the close of his official life he formed a copartnership with Wm. H. Kelsey, of Bridgeport 
(who had served in his office as deputy collector for several years), under the name of HoUister & 
Kelsey, and the firm are still engaged in an extensive practice in the various branches of law business. 
Upon attaining his majority he cast his first vote with the old Whig Party, and upon the formation of 
the Republican Party, under the presidential leadership of the famous Pathfinder, John C. Fremont, 
he espoused the interests of that party and has ever since been an earnest advocate and supporter of 
its principles and policy. 



CURTIS THOMPSON.— Possessing the confidence and esteem of the best of Bridgeport's 
citizens, with a lofty purpose to be found upon the right side of every moral, civil and religious 

question, and ready to aid in advancing it 
with such means as he can command, an 
active participant in municipal affairs, the 
mover in procuring one of the most effi- 
cient local governments in the state, and 
an attorney of large and extensive practice 
in his profession, such is the record of 
Curtis Thompson in this city. 

He was born in the town of Trumbull, 
October 30, 1835, his ancestors being of 
Puritan stock and among the early 
settlers, and of the old town of Stratford. 
His parents were George and Lucy (Curtis) 
Thompson; and it was during a tempo- 
rary residence in Trumbull that their son 
was born. vStratford school and the 
academy furnished his early education and 
Harvard University his collegiate instruc- 
tion. In 1865 he was admitted to the 
Fairfield County Bar, having read law 
with George W. Warner and David F. 
Hollister, and has since practiced his 
profession in this city. It is the belief 
of Mr. Thompson that it is the duty of 
every citizen to actively participate in the 
management of public matters. Stratford, 
of which he was then a resident, honored 
him with election to the Assemblies of 
1865-66-67, and while a public servant in 
this capacit}' of legislator he served on the 
Judiciary, Incorporations and other com- 
mittees. During the following years his 

C nrtis Thompson. ^ ^ - 

active interest in municipal affairs was 
well-nigh constant. In 1868-69 <ind 1872 he was Deputy Judge of the Bridgeport City Court; in 1874- 
75-75 he was Councilman and Alderman; in 1879, 1882, 1886-87 he was City Attorney, and in 1883 
Attorney for the town. An early experience of four years in the Probate Court, laid the foundation 
of an extensive practice in the settlement of estate and litigations growing out therefrom, besides 
which his general practice has been wide, especially in real estate, corporation and banking law. He 
has tried many important cases, criminal and civil, and has had much to do as Attorney for many 
towns and communities. For many years he was the trusted counsellor for the late P. T. Barnum ; he 
lias been an active trustee of the Bridgeport Savings Bank for many years, an officer of attorney for 
many other corporations, and in 1888-89, he was the mover in and the chairman of the committee, 
procuring the great measure for the consolidation of the Town and City Governments of Bridgeport. 




THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEI ORT. 



"3 



November 21, 1867, Mr. Thompson married Marie Louise Willcox, daughter of lames Willcox (at 
that time President of the Willcox and Gibbs Sewing Machine Companj'), and Katharine Barry, of 
New York. They have two children living, James Willcox Thompson, a graduate of Yale in 1890, 
and of the University of Tennessee in 1892; now a member of the Bridgeport Bar, and Katharine 
Barry Thompson. Mr. Thompson, after the death of Deacon R. N. Lace}-, was honored with election 
to the Presidency of the Fairfield Cormty Historical Society. He is a member of the South Congrega- 
tional Church and its vSociety, the Seaside Club and the Masonic Fraternity. In 1871 he received the 
honorary degree of Master of Arts, from Yale. In politics he is a Republican. 



MAJOR LOUIS NATHANIEL MIDDLEBROOK was born in the town of Trumbull, Conn., 
on June 19, 1825. He was the eldest son of Robert Middlebrook, a merchant of that town, and 
Nancy (Burton) Middlebrook. His first ancestor in America was Joseph Middlebrook, an English 
immigrant who settled in Concord, Ma.ss., prior to 1644, and in the latter year removed from Concord 
to Fairfield, Conn., where he resided until his decease. Major Middlebrook was of the seventh 
generation from the immigrant Joseph. Four of his ancestors in the paternal and maternal lines 
held military and civil offices in the Revolutionary War. He was fitted for college at the academies 
in Newtown, Easton and Clieshire, Conn. He graduated from 
Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., in 1848, being among the 
honor men of his class and also President of the Athen£Eum 
Literary Society of that institution. He received the degree of 
A. M. from Trinity College in 1851. He was a member of the 
Alpha Delta Phi college secret society. 

He studied law 1849-50-51 in the law office of the late Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Charles Hawle}-, of Stamford, Conn., and was 
admitted to the Bar of Connecticut, at Danbury, in August, 185 1. 
In 1852 he began the practice of law in Bridgeport, Conn. He 
was commissioned Major in 1852, and Judge Advocate 1853 in the 
then military organization of Connecticut. October 2, 1861, he 
enlisted as a private in a company raised by himself at his own 
expense for the ist Battalion, Connecticut Cavalry, in the war for 
the Union. Declining the tender of the appointment of Major of 
said Battalion, he was promoted to Captain of Company D, of 
said Battalion, and made Senior Captain of the ist Squadron of the 
same, and at different periods commanded the Battalion as Acting 
Major, under Generals Rosencranz, Fremont, Pope and McClellan. 
After the War he wrote a history of the Battalion. He was 
honorably discharged from the army on account of disabilities 
incurred in the service, November 21, 1862, by which disabilities 

he was rendered unable to resume active employment until 1866. On October ist of the latter year, he 
became Associate Editor-in-chief and one of the joint proprietors of the daily and weekly Republican 
Standard, a newspaper published in Bridgeport, Conn., and continued in that position until the 
latter part of 1S69, when he resumed his law practice in Bridgeport. He was a member of the 
Council of Administration of the Connecticut Department of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1869 
and 1871, and Judge Advocate in the same in 1870, 1872, 1873. In 1872 he was appointed Assistant 
U. S. District Attorney for the District of Connecticiat, and on September 27, of the same year, upon 
the nomination of Chief Justice Chase, of the United States Supreme Court, he was appointed 
Register in Bankruptcy for the Fourth Congressional District of Connecticut, composed of Fairfield 
and Litchfield Counties, and filled said office until the repeal of the National Bankruptcy Act. In 
1883 he was appointed Director of and Prosecuting Attorney for the Connecticut Humane Society, and 
in 1887 was made Chairman of its standing Committee on Legislation. He also filled the offices of a 
member of the Legislative body of the City Government of Bridgeport, Deputy Judge of the City 
Court, and Clerk of the same. 

He was one of the original founders and charter members of the Fairfield County Historical 
Society, and for several years Corresponding .Secretary and Honorary \'ice-President of the same, and 




N. Middlebrook. 



114 THE - STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

a member of the Connecticut Historical Society. He was also a member of the Connecticut Chapter 
of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He had no taste for political preferment, 
and uniformly discouraged .solicitations to become a candidate therefor. He was a lifelong member 
of and a communicant in the Protestant Episcopal Church. December 9, 1857, he married Juliette, 
daughter of the late William H. Tomlinson, Esq., of Stratford, Conn. From this marriage were 
born three children: Louis, the eldest, who died in 1869; Jennie the wife of Frank Brown Weeks, 
Esq,, of Columbia, Texas, and Albert, who resides in Bridgeport, Conn. 



COLONEL WILLL\M H. STEVENSON, among those men who have made Bridgeport's 
history, stands out prominently. Born in Bridgeport on April 29, 1847, he has always lived in his native 
, ^ city and been closely identified with its in- 
terests, social, political, religious and busi- 
ness. His business pursuits have been 
mainly in the legal and railroad line. He 
was admitted after examination by the Fair- 
field Coimty Bar in 1878 to practice law in 
the courts of Connecticut. His railroad 
experience began in 1864, after he had 
graduated with the degree of Master of 
Accounts from Eastman National Business 
College, when he entered the office of the 
Housatonic Railroad Company in this city. 
His merit in railroading was recognized and 
in 1S72 he was appointed vSpecial Agent of 
the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad. Two years later he was made 
Paymaster of the New York Central & Hud- 
son River Railroad, and a few months after 
Superintendent of the Shore Line Railroad, 
running from New Haven to New London. 
In 1882 he resigned and accepted the super- 
intendency of the Main (New York) Divi- 
sion of the New York, New Haven & Hart- 
ford Railroad. In 1885 he was elected 
President of the Association of American 
Railroad .Superintendents. In 1887 he was 
placed in charge of the Housatonic Railroad 
System as Vice-President and General Man- 
ager. He has also been President of the 
New Haven & Derby Railroad, President of 
the New York. Rutland & Montreal Railroad, 
\'ice-President of the Shepaug, Litchfield 
& Northern Railroad, Director in the New 
York & New England Railroad, and Director of the Danbury'& Norwalk Railroad Company. 

In military circles he has been a member of the famous Veteran Battalion known as the "Old 
(iuard," of New York, and in the Connecticut National Guard he served as Captain and Major on the 
staff of Brigadier-General Stephen R. Smith, and in 1884 was appointed on the staff of Governor 
Thomas M. Waller, with the rank of Colonel. 

In fraternal and secret society organizations, Colonel Stevenson has likewise been prominent. 
In 1884 the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows elected him Grand Master of 
Connecticut. He was then sent as Connecticut Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge and 
secured the distinction of Grand Marshal of that august body. He was appointed Colonel of the 
" Patriarchs Mihtant " branch of the Odd Fellows in 1886 by General Underwood. In the Masonic 
Order he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Mystic Shriner. In 1S85 he was elected Exalted 




THE '■STAXDAkiyS HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. 115 

Ruler of the Bridgeport Lodye of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member 
■of the Improved Order of Red Men. 

In club life he belongs to the Manhattan Club of Xew York, and Seaside Club and the Brooklawn 
Country Club of this city. Colonel Stevenson was one of the charter members of the Bridgeport 
Board of Trade, and served as President of the old Eclectic Club. In political affairs he is a Democrat. 
He has been a member of the Board of Park Commissioners, and under the old City Government 
served many terms as Councilman and Alderman. 

Colonel Stevenson was the son of William Gorham and Lucinda T. iStevenson. In 1869 he 
married Mary H. Shelton, daughter of William J. and Mary H. Shelton, and has three children, 
Henry Cogswell, Louie Shelton and Mary Bell, living. Two sons, William Shelton and Eliot 
Gorham, died in 1895 and 1896, aged twenty-three and seven respectively. 



GOODWIN STODDARD was born in Bethany, New Haven County, Conn. ; and after studying 
hard at the Freehold University, N. J., was admitted to the University of New York, in order to 
embrace the legal profession. He graduated as attorney-at-law, and immediately began practice; and 
by dint of industry, and a thorough knowledge of the intricacies of that profession, he has been 
successful in building up a very large practice. Some of our lead- 
ing and most difficult cases have been intrusted to his care, and to 
say that his side of the (luestion was well taken care of, would 
be to put it mildly. 

Mr. .Stoddard wedded, October 21, 1875, Julia E. Sanford; 
the daughter of E. G. Sanford; and their happy married life has 
been blessed by two children, Sanford Stoddard and Henry B. 
Stoddard. 

PATRICK KANE.— The entire membership of the Fairfield 
County and Bridgeport bar contains no person more esteemed by 
his associates or honored by his acquaintances, than attorney 
Patrick Kane, the subject of this brief sketch. By his simple 
unassuming manner, his imiform courtesy and his unfailing good 
nature. Judge Kane, for by this title he is known best, has gained 
the loyal friendship of all who have come in contact with him. 
Mr. Kane is essentially a product of American opportimity, tlic 
result of American pluck and perseverance — a self-made man. 
Upon November 14, 1S48, he was born in the city of New York, 
but when he had attained to the age of seven years his parents 
removed to this city, which has ever since been his home. As a lad 
he attended the old district schools of the city, and in them 

acquired a thorough education in the common branches of study. This course completed, he became 
a student at the Bryant and Stratton Business College, paying for his tuition by caring for the 
building, and speedily taking rank among the leading students. During this period he was also a 
newsboy of activitj', being connected with all the papers published in the city at the time and also 
with the Wales newsroom. 

In 1865, owing to the illness of his employer, Mr. Kane was given charge of the newsroom, and 
after Mr. Wales' death, became a partner in the business in 1868. It was at this time that the stand 
was given the title of the Post Office newsroom, and soon afterward Mr. Kane assumed the work of 
distributing the entire local edition of the Standard. On account of the pressure of other business, 
however, he continued this arrangement only a year. In 1870, realizing the advantages afforded by a 
higher education, he entered the academy of the late Rev. G. B. Day, where he was for two terms a 
faithful student. Within a short time he became a full partner in the business, with which he had 
been connected five years. This arrangement continued until 1879, when he became sole owner and 
conducted the business, finally disposing of it in 1885 to Plumb & Beaixlsley. When this event took 
place Mr. Kane decided to enjo\- a well earned vacation, and the ensuing year was devoted to rest and 
recuperation. In the fall of 1886, he entered the Yale Law School and in 1888 was graduated, being 




ii6 



THE •• STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



shortly afterward admitted to the Fairfield County bar. He then succeeded to the practice of 
Attorney Joseph A. Joyce, who removed from the city, located in the Sturdevant Building where he 
has ever since occupied offices with Judge C. H. Peck. 

In politics Mr. Kane was oi-iginally a War Democrat, but in 1872 he joined the Republican Party, 
casting his ballot for General Grant. Later, in 1884, he returned to the Democratic party which has 
since honored him in various ways. For four years he has been elected a Justice of the Peace and 
from 1893 to 1895 served as Deputy Judge of the City Court. During this period the administration 
of the Court's affairs devolved almost entirely upon him because of the lamentable death of Judge 
Joseph J. Rose. Since 1S93 he has had charge of the indexing of the land records and is at present 
a member of the Board of Relief. For fifteen years Air. Kane was a member of the well known 

Father Matthew Society, holding almost 
every office in the order. During this 
period he was four years state editor of 
the Connecticut T. A. Union. He was 
also an active member of Park City 
Council, Knights of Columbus, and has 
been among the most active in advancing 
its interests. During the Parnell agitation 
he was one of the most prominent local 
men interested and to his untiring zeal, 
was due much of the success which 
attended the agitation in this vicinity. 
For a number of years past he has been an 
active member of the Board of Trade. 

ATTORNEY STILES JUDSON, Jr., 
is to-day considered one of the leading 
lawyers of the Fairfield County Bar. 
Within the past few years he has appeared 
in some of the most important cases that 
have been brought before the higher 
courts. He is an eloquent speaker, and 
his arguments always command attention. 
He is a member of the law firm of 
Canfield & Judson. 

Mr. Judson was born in the town of 
Stratford, on February 13, 1862. He 
received his early education in the public 
schools of Stratford, and at the Stratford 
Academy. At the age of twenty-one he 
entered the Yale Law School, from which 
he was graduated in June, 1S85, with the 
degree of LL. B., and having passed the 
best examination in the class of which he 
was a member. He was admitted to the bar in the same year, and at once entered the well-known 
office of Townsend & Watrous, in New Haven, where he remained until September, 1S86. He then 
removed to Bridgeport, where he has since continued the practice of his profession. He is an active 
practitioner, a fluent and earnest pleader, quick to grasp the important points in a case, and has been 
remarkably successful in his practice. 

Mr. Judson was connected with the National Guard for over ten years, and at one time was in 
command of Company K, Fourth Regiment. He has always resided in Stratford. In that town he 
has been elected to numerous offices, and has taken an active part in local affairs. He is an ardent 
Republican and an earnest worker in the interests of his party. Mr. Judson first attracted public 
notice in the campaign of 1888. He soon won for himself the reputation of being a popular speaker 




stiles Judson, Jr. 



THE '-STAXDARDS- HISTORY OF BRHHiEPORT. 



U7 



on political issues. He is a lineal descendant of William Judson, one of the first settlers of the town 
of Stratford, and at the 250th anniversary of the settlement was selected as President of the day. In 
the fall of 1890 the people of Stratford elected him to the Legislature at Hartford to represent their 
interests, and he was at once recognized as a leader on the Republican side of the house. Durino- 
the memorable gubernatorial contest in 1891 he took an important part, and his efforts were fully 
recognized. At that session he was appointed Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, a position 
which by usage carried with it the leadership on the floor and for which he was peculiarly fitted. He 
was the Republican candidate for Secretary of State at the election of 1892, and made an excellent 
run. At the last session of the Legislature Mr. Judson again represented his town, and was again 
appointed a member of the Judiciary Committee. At the resignation of the Hon. William T. Elmer 
as chairman of that committee, Mr. Judson was once more selected as Chairman, and many important 
matters received his consideration. He was one of the leading debators on the floor, and his ready 
wit and eloquence attracted much attention. Mr. Judson possesses a large circle of professional and 
business friends. 

Mr. Judson was married to Miss Minnie L. 
Miles, of !Milford, on December 5, 1889. 

CHARLES WILLIAM :M ANN. — Through 
diligent devotion to the practice of his profession 
and the e.Kercise of more than ordinary talent. 
Charles William Mann has come, within a com- 
paratively short time, to be recognized as one of 
Bridgeport's most capable lawyers. His standing 
with the general public is on a par with his 
position in his chosen profession, and in all walks 
of life he has earned the respect and sincere 
esteem of all with whom he has come in contact. 
In him, the city possesses a man who is destined 
to occupy a prominent place in the future life and 
development of the city. 

Charles William Mann, eldest son of Joseph 
and Annie Patchett ^lann, both now deceased, 
was born at Halifax, Yorkshire, one of the busiest 
and most prosperous sections of England, upon 
May 8, 1855. His education was secured at Park 
Field House Academy and at Hipperholme Gram- 
mar School in the parish of Halifax, and at its 
completion he commenced the study of law in the 
office of Charles Henry Lecming, an eminent ciuuks w M.um 

solicitor and counsellor, now deceased. Here he 

soon became head clerk, and was speedily recognized as one of the promising young men of the town. 
But his ambition led him to seek a broader field in the United States, and since February 21, 1877, 
the Nutmeg State has been his home. He decided to locate in Meriden, where he in brief course of 
time formed many close friendships, and May 21, 1878, was admitted to the New Haven County bar. 

Upon September 18 of the following year, he was t:nited in marriage at St. Andrew's Church, 
Meriden, to Miss Emma Amelia Woodward, daughter of Oswald and Sophia Woodward, and member 
of an old English family, which came to the United States thirty-five years ago. To gladden their 
home one son has since been granted them, Arthur Woodward Mann, a sturdy lad of twelve years 
of age. 

In 1892 Attorney Mann decided to remove to this city, though places of honor and preferment 
had been given and still were in store for him in Meriden. He immediately established himself in 
Bishop Block, where he is still located in pleasant commodious offices affording every facility to his 
clients' comfort and convenience. In Meriden, Attorney Mann soon became widely known, not only 
as a lawyer, but a speaker of more than ordinary ability. He is a Democrat of sound principle and 




ii8 



THE "STASDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. 



has beea heard in all parts of the State upon the platform, making his first tour in support of 
President Cleveland in 1884. His power of oratory has not only earned him favor politically, but in 
his profession, and the appeals made b_v him in closing cases before the higher tribunals of the state 
will long be remembered as gems of thought and eloquence. Since coming to this city Mr. Mann has 
not been especially active in political life, but in 1893 was recommended for appointment as Consul at 
his native town, Halifax. The position was assured him but it was finally decided not to establish 
the Consulate. 

Socially he is prominent, being an active member of the Ancient Essenic Order; Pioneer Lodge, 
Sons of St. George: Progressive Circle, Brotherhood of the Union. Mr. Mann is one of the active 
and earnest- working members of the Second (South) Congregational Church, being deeply interested 

in all its departments of work and taking a 
whole-souled interest in all. 

JEREMIAH DEAN TOOMEY, Jr.— 
Among the local members of the Fairfield 
County bar, there is not another who has 
attained to such an honorable position 
within so short a time as has Jeremiah 
Dean Toomey, Jr., who in 1S95 was 
appointed to the important position of City 
.\ttorne)\ Though but twenty-seven years 
of age at the time, his appointment proved 
to be a most excellent one, and through the 
period which he held office the duties of 
his position were discharged in a most 
satisfactory manner. An indefatigable and 
deterinined worker, Attornej' Toomey took 
to the office, to which he was appointed, the 
qualities needed to dispose of its business 
in a thorough manner, and his administra- 
tion has taken rank with those of the other 
well known lawyers w'ho preceded him. 

Mr. Toomey was born in Bridgeport, 
June 15, 1868, and with his parents removed 
to Fairfield some years later. He prepared 
for college at the Bridgeport High School 
and then entered Columbia College. From 
there he went to the Yale Law School, 
being graduated from that institution in the 
class of 1890. Immediately after hi.s ad- 
mission to the bar he opened offices in this 
cit\% but retained his residence in Fairfield. 
There he w-as quickly elected to nearly 
every office in the gift of the town, serving upon the Board of Education and acting as Tow-n 
Treasurer and Town Counsel. In 1893 he was elected to the Legislature, where he served with much 
credit. Shortly after its session came to a close he removed to this city and was soon prominently 
identified with local politics. A staunch Democrat, he was active in the election of 1895, and received 
the appointment of City Attorney in the summer of that year. Upon June 26, 1895, he was united 
in marriage to Miss Nellie L. Boland, and they now occupj' a comfortable home upon Franklin 
street. Mr. Toomey is a valued member of the Aragon Council, Knights of Columbus; Court 
Seaside, Foresters of America and Gilmore Council, Royal Arcanum. Some time ago he formed a 
partnership with Attorney James T. Lynch, under the firm name of Toomey & Lj-nch, offices being 
established in Bishop Block. These are fitted up in a tasteful and convenient manner, easy of access, 
and counted as among the best located in the citv. 




lah Dean T....n 



THE "STAXDARI/S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



119 



HOWARD NICHOLS WAKEMAN, a member of the Fairfield County Bar, was 



Greenfield Hill, Conn., November 21, 1856. He was the son 
Wakeman, who passed their lives in their native tow-n of Fairfield 
and were among- its most respected citizens. He received his 
education at Rev. G. B. Day's, Bridgeport, Trinity School, 
Southport and the Yale Law School, graduating therefrom in 1888. 
He was admitted to the Bar after pursuing his studies with Curtis 
Thompson, Esq., of Bridgeport, in 18S7, and is now a member of 
the law firm of Thompson, Wakeman & Thompson. Mr. Wake- 
man has always been a Republican, working hard for the success 
of the party. He was elected to the General Assembly of 1897, 
and was House Chairman of the Committee on Public Health and 
Clerk of the Committee on Legislative Expenses and Procedure. 
He is a member of the Graduate Club in New Haven, of the 
Sea.side Club, Bridgeport, and the B. C. \- M. :M. R. Club. 



of Zalmon and Susan 



born in 
Warner 



Southport. He is an officer of 





the Fairfield County Historical 
Society. 

Jlr. Wakeman was married, 
October 28, 1891, to Miss Grace 
Melville Hall, daughter of the 
late Henry and Catherine Silli- 
man Hall, formerly of Bridge- 
port. Two children have been ii.iwarj n. waUeman. 
born to them. 

Mr. Wakeman resides in Southport. and takes an active 
interest in all matters pertaining to the improvement and pi^osperity 
of the town where he lives, as well as of the progress of Bridge- 
port, in which he spends so much of his time. 



JOHN J. PHELAN, by profession a 1 
important positions in the political field. 
Town Attorney of Bridgeport, 
and in the last named year, I 
together with the following 
year, he represented the city in 
the General Assembly. During 
■ .L- iKc w 1 ..ifv. the years 1889-90, he was City 

Attorney, and in the fall of 1889 
he was elected .Secretary of State, to which position he was re- 
elected in 1891, and occupied for two years during the administration 
of Governor Morris. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations. 
Mr, Phelan is a native of Ireland, being born in the County of 
Wexford, June 21, 1851. He was educated in the schools of his 
native place. It was twenty-seven years ago that Mr. Phelan took 
up his residence in Bridgeport. He is a member of the Seaside 
Club, the Knights of Columbus, of which organization he has been 
a Supreme Knight for several years, the Catholic Club of New 
York, the Irish Historical Association of Boston, and the Roman 
Catholic Church. Mr. Phelan's wife was Miss Annie E. Fitz- 
gerald, of Stratford. 



;i\vyer, has 
In 1883-84- 



held many 
85, he was 




Charles A. Doteii iCoroner.) 

ALBERT M. TALLMADGE, the present Judge of the 
Probate Court for the district of Bridgeport, which comprises the towns of Bridgeport, Easton, 
Monroe and Trumbull, was born in Fairfield, Conn., February 22, 1S54. He was graduated ai 



I20 THE '• STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

Wesleyan University in the class of 1874. Three years later he was graduated from the Yale Law 
School and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar. He then entered upon the practice of his profession 
in this city, and was associated with Hon. Curtis Thompson until the year 1892. Between 1879 and 
1881 he was Deput)- Judge of the Bridgeport City Court and in 18S4, he was a member of the 
General Assembly from Bridgeport, the late General William H. Noble being his colleague, and 
served on the Judicary Committee. In the fall of 1892 he was elected Judge of Probate, and was 
re-elected at the elections of 1894 and 1896. 

GEORGE WINTON CAREY, a prominent young member of the Bridgeport Bar and the 
junior member of the law firm of Hawley & Carey, was born at Stratford, Conn, July 4, 1873 His 
boyhood school days were passed in his native town. Graduating from the Stratford Graded School 
under the principalship of Wilfred M. Peck, he having attended the Bridgeport High School, after 
which he entered Yale Law School of New Haven, Conn., graduating therefrom in the class of '95. 
While there he achieved distinction as a speaker and debater, being one of eight men in a class of 
eighty chosen to compete for the Wayland Prizes. After completing his legal studies he practiced in 
Stratford, his native town, for one year, being associated with the late Robert H. Russell, Judge of 
Probate. After Judge Russell's death he located in Bridgeport and became associated with Mr. 
Hawley, forming a co-partnership imder the firm name of Hawley & Carey, with oftices in the 
Sanford Building. 

Mr. Carey is a member of the Stratford M. E. Church and several other organizations. He is an 
ardent Republican and a prominent leader of his party in Stratford. As a member of the bar, he is 
progressive and enjoys a lucrative and growing clientage, having many interests in the Superior and 
higher courts. He makes a special feature of Probate and real estate practice. On November 11, 
1896, Mr. Care)' married Miss Bertha Inez Clark. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carey are popular socially, and 
are great favorites in the circle in which they move. Mr. Carey being frequently in demand as an 
after dinner and social speaker. 

CHARLES ARTHUR DOTEN was born in Sheffield, Mass., February 8, 1850, and after a 
preliminary training at the Bridgeport schools entered Yale College, later concluding his studies at 
Columbia College, New York. He is a lineal descendent of Edward Doten, one of the pilgrims that 
landed on Plymouth Rock from the Mayflower; and on his maternal side, he is descended from Major 
John Mason, who commanded our forces in the Pequot War. Mr. Doten has been the recipient of 
many offices from his party, and as City Attorney, Judge of City Court, and Coroner of Fairfield 
County, he has earned for himself a reputation as a painstaking conscientious official. Mr. Doten is 
a member of the vSeaside, Outing, Corinthian Lodge, F. & A. M. Politically he is a Republican of 
the stalwart order and is unmarried. 




George L. Porter, M.D. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

BIOGRAPHY.— MEDICAL PROFESSK )X. 

TAR. GEORGE LORING PORTER was born in Concord, X. H., April 29, 1838. He is the son of 
*-^ George and Clarissa (Ayer) Porter, and grandson of Isaac Porter, who was of the seventh gener- 
ation from John Porter, who came from England in 1645 in the "Susan and Ellen," and settled in 
Hingham, Mass. On his mother's side he is also of old English and revolutionary stock. He was a 
student in the Little Blue School at Farmington, Maine, and at the Pembroke, New Hampshire 
Academy, in 1852, at the New London, New Hampshire Academy in 1855, and at Brown LTniversity. 
Providence. R. I., in 1859. He read medicine in Pittsburgh, Pa., and in the Jefferson Medical College, 
Philadelphia, took his degree of ^LD. in March, 1862. In April, 1862, he passed the Examining Board 
of the army and was assigned to duty as a •' proof candidate " at Strasburg, \'a. , and was commissioned 
July, 1862, He remained in the army throughout the war, and was present at the Battles of Freder- 
icksburg, Beverly Ford, Gettysburg, Brandy Station, Todd's Tavern, Fleming'sCross Roads, Manassas 
Gap, Kelly's Ford, Middleton, L'ppervillc, Williamsport, Boonsboro (wounded in the left arm). Funks- 
town, Falling Waters, Beaver Dam, 'Warrenton, Ashby's Gap, Front Royal, Culpeper Court House, 
and Morton's Ford. He was relieved of duty in the field and ordered to Washington in April, 1864, 
but the order failing to reach him he remained with his regiment in the Wilderness campaign. He 
was recommended for promotion for faithful service and gallantry in the field, and in March, 1865, was 
brevetted Captain and Major. Dr. Porter was Post-Surgeon at Washington Arsenal, from May, 1864, 
to May, 1867, had medical charge of the Lincoln conspirators during their confinement in the old 
penitentiary building, was present at the hanging of five, and accompanied the others to Tortugas, 
where they were imprisoned. He was the only commissioned officer present at the disposal of the 
body of John Wilkes Booth, and his reminiscences of that period of the history of the country, which 
he has put into the form of a lecture, are wonderfully interesting. 

After the war Dr. Porter was ordered to the frontier, and served in Montana until July 18, 1868, 
when he resigned and came to Bridgeport, where he has been in the practice of his profession ever 
since. He has served seven years in the Connecticut National Guard, four years as surgeon of the 
Fourth Regiment, and three years as Medical Director on the staff of General T. L. Watson. 

Dr. Porter is a member of the Bridgeport Medical Association, President in 1S76-77; of the Fair- 
field Medical Association, President in 1883; of the Connecticut Medical Society, President in 1888-89; 
of the American Medical Association, member of the Judicial Council, 1891-94; of the American 
Academy of Medicine; of the Ninth International Medical Congre.ss, Vice-President of the Section on 
Military Surgery, 1887; President of the Board of Health, of Bridgeport, 1882-83; member of the 
Military Order of the Loyal Legion; of the thirty-third degree of the Masonic Fraternity ; of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, and of many other fraternal and social organizations. Dr. Porter is a pleasing 
and instructive lecturer on historical topics, has written many valuable papers connected with his pro- 
fession, is the author of considerable existing medical legislation in Connecticut, and is a most popular 
and acceptable post prandial speaker. He married, in 1862, Miss Catharine Maria, daughter of 
M. Chaffee, the inventor of the Chaffee cylinder for vulcanizing rubber, Providence, R. I. Their 
children are: Clara Elizabeth, George, James Benton. Ethel, Lindsay. May, Alice, Hugh, Grace, 
Anna and Clarissa Porter. 

Dr. Porter is an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman, and has enjoyed many opportunities, during 
his varied experience, for indulging in both pastimes. He has been very successful as a fisherman, 
and has killed more big game, such as bear, buffalo, deer, wild cats, etc., than falls to the lot of most 



122 THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

hunters. He has secured from the Canadian Government, the lease of a very desirable fishing preserve 
in which are lakes and rivers never yet fished, to any extent, by white men, and which are well stocked 
with the game fish of the primeval woods. 



ROBERT HUBBARD, M.D. — During the compilation of this most valuable work, after a life 

of usefulness and philanthropy, the mortal remains of Dr. Hubbard, Connecticut's greatest physician 

and surgeon, was laid to rest. 

Robert Hubbard, M.D., was a native of Cromwell, Conn., and was born April 26, 1S27. He was 

the son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Hubbard; both of whom descended from old colonial families. 

His schooling was garnered in his native village, when his labors were not needed at the farm; 

and at the age of seventeen he entered the 
Academy at Cromwell. Here he prepared 
himself for a course in college; entering 
Yale in 1846 After a year of study, he 
left the university to accept a position as 
Principal of the Academy at Durham. He 
was then persuaded by Dr. Benjamin 
Fowler to take up the study of medicine; 
and in 185 1, after attending a course of 
lectures at Yale University, he graduated 
with the distinguished honor of being vale- 
dictorian of his class. 

After receiving hisdiploma, hecame to 
this city to begin active practice of his profes- 
sion; and his success, though difficult at first 
to overcome the prejudice of a young physi- 
cian, was eventually beyond his expectations. 
In 1855 he married Miss Cornelia 
Hartvvell, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
vSherman Hartwell. 

At the breaking out of the Civil War, 
Dr. Hubbard, upon the recommendation of 
the State Medical Society, was appointed 
by Governor Buckingham to the post of ex- 
aminer of the candidates for appointment, 
as Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon for the 
regiments raised in Connecticut. In 
1862 he went to the front as Surgeon of 
the 7th Connecticut Volunteers. After 
serving imtiringly in most of the principal 
battles, and reaching the important rank of 
Medical Inspector, ill health made his re- 
tirement necessary, and he then returned 
to Bridgeport to resume his practice. 
Dr. Hubbard took a prominent part in political affairs, and in 1874 and 1876, was elected as one 

of the city's representatives in the General Assembly. The Connecticut Medical Society, recognizing 

his great ability, elected him President of that organization, which office he held from 1879 to 1883. 

Since then he has gradually given up active practice, confining himself only to consultations, and to 

those patients who would not be treated by any other physician. 

The demise of Dr. Hubbard was a sad blow to Bridgeport, and his charity and benevolence will 

never be forgotten, and now, " After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well." 

CHARLES EDWIN SANFORD was born in North Haven, Conn., May 31, 1830. On his 
paternal side, he was a descendent of Thomas Sanford, who settled in Milford, Conn., in 1639, many 




Robert Hubbard, .M.li 



THE 



STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



123 



of whose descendents settled in the vicinity of New Haven. His mother. Maria Abbott was a direct 
descendent of the first president of Yale University, Rev. Abraham Pierson. His maternal grand- 
mother being named after President Pierson's daughter, Anna Pierson. 

Dr. Sanford's early education was furnished by the schools of his native town, supplemented by 
two or three years in the private school of Rev. Ammi Lindsley, and several months of tutelage in 
preparing for college. At this time the whole current of his life was changed by a serious trouble 
with his eyes — physicians advising complete rest — he entered into commercial ptirsuits for five years, 
when, his eyes having grown stronger, he concluded to devote his life to the profession of medicine. 
Again pursuing his studies, he entered the High School taught by H. D. Smith, in West JMeriden, 
staying for one year, and, after teaching for another year, entered Yale iMedical School, graduating in 
1853. He at once entered into practice with 
his preceptor, Dr. G. H. Moody, of Plain- 
ville. Conn., with whom he was associated 
for several years. 

During a .sojourn in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
in 1856, his attention was directed to the 
Homoeopathic code of practice, and, soon 
after, settling in Bristol, Conn., circum- 
stances led him to devote much time to 
the principles of this new mode of practice. 
Selecting some of the most reliable 
books upon the theory and practice of 
HomcEopathy, he soon began to tise its 
remedies, and after two years of earnest 
work, he verified the truth of the "new 
teachings," by daily use in a large prac- 
tice, concluding to accept Homoeopathy, and 
in doing so to seek some larger, and more 
congenial field for his life's work, and on 
August 23, 1859, he removed to Bridge- 
port, where he has since resided. 

On October 26, 1S55, Dr. Sanfurd mar- 
ried Annie Fuller Xeale, of Southington, 
Conn., by whom he has had four children, 
two of whom have passed into the new life. 

Dr. Sanford cast his first presidential 
vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and has 
been a Republican ever since. He is ex- 
President of both the city and state Homeo- 
pathic Societies ; a member of the Ameri- 
can Institute of Homoeopathy, and socially, 
of the Seaside Club. He was for a num- 
ber of years President of the city Board of 
Healtli'. 

He attends the South Congreqfational Church, of which he is a member. 




DR. CLITUS S. HOAG, is a native of Stockbridge, Vt., where ^he was born, January 31, 1855. 
The High School and Goddard Seminary at Barre, Vt., furnished his preparatory education, and to 
pursue the study of his chosen profession he entered in Hahnemann Medical College at Philadelphia, 
from which he was graduated in 1877. Sixteen years ago he took up his residence in Bridgeport and 
engaged in practice, being first associated here with Dr. S. H. Norton, one of the pioneer physicians 
of the Park City. 

Dr. Hoag is a member of the state and city Homoeopathic Medical Societies, and ex-President of 
the former. He belongs to the American Institute of Homoeopathy, and for several years was its 



THE ■■ STAXDARD'S'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



Registrar. He is also Consulting- Ph_vsician to the Connecticut Masonic Home at Wallingford. Dr. 
Hoao- has been all through the different Masonic organizations, and now holds thirty-second degree. 
He is a member of the Board of Trade and the Seaside Club. He is a Republican in politics. On 
January 22, 18S0, Dr. Hoag married Miss Dora E. Abbott, of Waterbury, Vt. 

DR. ALVA HOAG, brother of Dr. Clitus Hoag, one of Bridgeport's physicians of the 
Homijeopathic School, was born at Stockbridge, Vt., Nov. 22, 1859. His preliminary education was 
received at the Goddard Seminary at Barre, in his native state, and deciding to make the practice of 
medicine his life work, he entered the New York Homoeopathic Medical College, of which he is a 
o-raduate. A further course of training at the Homoeopathic Hospital connected with the institution, 

and he entered upon the practice of his 
chosen profession. He has been a resident 
of Bridgeport for a period of ten years, and 
here he belongs to the Algonquin Club. 
Dr. Hoag has also the honor of being a 
thirty-second degree Mason, being past 
master of St. John's Lodge No 3. In 
politics he is a Republican. Dr. Hoag is 
unmarried. 

CURTIS HARVEY BILL, M.D.— 
In the halcyon days of good Queen Bess, 
there dwelt in Bedfordshire, England, a 
physician of high repute, named Thomas 
Bill,who was born in (or about) the year 1490. 
Having been successful in obtaining' 
the academic degrees of B.A., M.A., and a 
fellowship at Pembroke Hall, he studied 
for the medical profession, and after years 
of travel and instruction from the most 
eminent physicians, surgeons and chemists 
of his time, he received his degree of M.D. 
from the celebrated imiversity at Paria, Italy, 
founded by the Emperor Charlemagne. 
Thomas Bill, M.D. , afterward became court 
physician to Henry VIII and Edward VI. 

In 1549, the Princess Elizabeth being- 
at the point of death, Dr. Bill was called to 
attend her, and the future Queen in a 
letter to her favorite, the Duke of Somerset, 
speaks of Dr. Bill as a gentleman to ivhose 
diligence and pains lias been a great part of 
,\iva A. n..i,i,., ji.Li. my recovery. 

Curtis Harvey Bill, M.D. (or, as he is 
most affectionately called. Dr. Bill), is a direct descendent of Thomas Bill, M.D., and a long line of 
famous men and women. Born at Albany, Vermont, July 2, 1835, he soon showed that he had inherited 
from his ancestors the natural aptitude to conquer that enemy of man — disease. 

Industry, energy and study has been his watchword from the time he commenced his public 
school education until he received his degree of M.D. from University Medical College, city of New 
York, which was in the year 1859. 

He began his career as a physician in Clarksville, Tenn., and was succeeding in building up a 
large practice when the gun was fired at Fort Sumter that set the world ablaze. 

Dr. Bill was, on account of his Northern birth, and his refusal of a surgeon's commission in the 
Confederate Army, driven out of the South by a vigilance committee. 




THH ■■STAXDARirS'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



On arriving at Louisville, Ky., the call to arms stirred his martial spirit, and after reporting- to 
Gen. W. T. Sherman, was assigned to duty as acting assistant surgeon with the Fifteenth U. S. 
Infantry. The splendid services rendered by Dr. Bill during the war can be found in the army 
records of the United States up to the time he was mustered out with the full rank of surgeon, 
August 14, 1865. 

Dr. Bill practically commenced life anew when he came to Bridgeport in 187 1, but his services 
to this country, and his thorough knowledge of the practice of surgery and medicine soon won for 
him the confidence and patronage of a large clientile, and he has long been recognized as one of our 
most trustworthy and successful physicians. When the Bridgeport Hospital was organized, he was 
elected to the staff of visiting physicians and surgeons, in which capacity he served the institution 

ten years, when he resigned, and has since 
served on the consulting staff. He has 
served other charitable institutions as 
physician, and many poor but respectable 
families in the city have commanded his 
services without fee or hope of reward. 

A great many insurance companies 
acknowledging his skill, have entrusted 
him with the medical portion of their vast 
interests in this city. The ^lutual Life, 
of New York; Penn Mutual, of Phila- 
delphia; Travellers, of Hartford; Man- 
hattan, of New York, being among the 
number, for which he is medical examiner. 
Dr. Bill was united in marriage, Septem- 
ber 20, 1865, to Mary J. Worcester, a 
niece of the famous Joseph E. Worcester, 
LL. D., author of Worcester's Dictionary. 
This couple have three children living, 
Mary E., Philip W. and Harold C. A 
number of social and other societies have 
Dr. Bill's name inscribed on their books. 
i\mong the number, Post No. 3, Elias 
Howe, Jr., (5. A. R., and the Brooklawn 
Country Club and Contemporary Club. 
He is an active member of the Bridgeport 
Medical Society, Fairfield Co., and Con- 
necticut Medical Society and the American 
Medical Association. Dr. Bill politically 
is a staunch Republican. The family 
attend the Episcopal Church. 

F R E D E R I C K C H A U N C E Y 
GRAVES, M.D. — History cannot record 
the many living examples of a medical practitioner's skill, but it can dwell generally on the results that 
are well known. Frederick Chauncey Graves, one of Bridgeport's eminent physicians, was born in 
Bainbridge, Chenango County, N. Y., January 30, 1863. Gaylord S. Graves, his father, was descended 
from English ancestors, who came to this country about 1637, and settled in Massachusetts. For over 
forty years he was a successful merchant in Bainbridge. His wife was Harriet E. Pettys. Dr. Graves 
received his preliminary education at Bainbridge Academy and Collegate University. He afterward 
entered the Medical Department of New York University, from which he was graduated with high honors 
in 1888. Immediately after graduation he became resident physician at the Bridgeport Hospital, 
and after completing his term of service, he began general practice in the city. It would be needless 
to comment upon the results of his labors in his chosen profession, as his success is so well known. 




Clitus S. Hoag, M.D 



THE " STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. 



Dr. Graves was married September 15, 1892, to Fannie Elizabeth, daugliter of Dr. S. J. Damon, 
and to their household has been added two sons, Frederick Taylor Graves and George Willis Graves. 

Mrs. Graves is recognized as one of the leading soprano singers of the city, and is at present a 
member of the quartette of the First M. E. Church. 

Though quite a young man, Dr. Graves has been honored by the members of his profession in his 
election as President of the Bridgeport Medical Association, an organization devoted to scientific 
research and discussion along medical lines, and holding monthly meetings in the Barnum Institute of 
Science and History. His worth has also been of note in the First ^I. E. Church, of which he is a 
member, and one of its official board. 

As specially connected with his profession. Dr. Graves is a member of the visiting staff of the 
Bridgeport Hospital, physical examiner 
for the gymnasium of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, and medical ex- 
aminer for various orders and life insur- 
ance companies. Other organizations in 
which he holds membership, are the 
Bridgeport Board of Trade, Pequonnock 
Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; Bridgeport Yacht Club, 
Scandia Lodge, A. O. U. W. ; Tima Lodge 
Heptasophs, N. E. O. P., and K. A. E. O. 

In his political affiliations Dr. Graves 
has always been a staunch Republican. 



GEORGE WAKEMAN OSBORN, 
son of David H. Osborn and Melissa 
Osborn, his father being a prosperous 
farmer of Easton, was born in Easton, 
Conn., November 6, i860. He received his 
preliminary education at Staples Academy, 
Easton, Conn., and after its conclusion, 
was admitted to the academic depart- 
ment of Yale college, graduating in 1884, 
with the degree of B.A. The following 
three years were spent in the study of 
medicine at the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons (medical department of Colum- 
bia University, New York), from which he 
was graduated with high honors, in 1887, 
receiving the degree of M.D. Before 
commencing regular practice, a year was 
spent in the thirst for knowledge, as 
house phvsician of Bridgeport hospital. 
Being fully equipped m surgery and 
medicine. Dr. Osborn soon assumed a 

h'.gh position as medical practitioner; and among his many patients are the members of some of 
Bridgeport's best families. 

Dr. 0.sborn is a member of the American, State, Fairfield Co. and Bridgeport Medical .Societies, and 
is examiner for several insurance companies, notably the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., of New 
York, and state and local Firemen's Benevolent Associations. He was for several years Citj- Physician 
and Surgeon at Emergency Hospital. The Young Men's Christian Association, Free and Accepted 
Masons, Royal Arch Masons, Knights Templars, Foresters and Knights of Pythias, have in him a 
valued member. Dr. Osborn was united in marriage to Nellie M. Boynton, of Peabody, Ma.ss., 
December 27. 1888, by which union there is issue of three children, (two living, one dead). 




THE "STAXDAIWS HISTORY OF BRWGI-l'ORT. 



DR. J(JHX CHARLES LYNCH, a resident of Bridgeport, Conn., since i8So, was born in 
Tnniibu]!, Conn., February 6, 1865. His early education was received in the public school of Trum- 
bull, and in the Commercial and Military Institute, of Bridgeport, Conn. He was prepared for college 
by private tutors, beginning the study of dentistry in the New York College of Dentistry in 18S2, and 
graduated in 1884. On account of ill-health, he gave up the practice of dentistry and began the study 
of medicine with Dr. Robert Hubbard in 1883, graduating from the medical department of the Uni- 
versity of the city of New Y'ork in 1S86. He located in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1888, and has since 
practiced in this city. After graduation he took post graduate courses in the New Y'ork Post Graduate 
Medical School and Hospital, and the Polyclinic. In 1894 he went to Europe for further study in Vienna 
and Berlin. In 1897 he took the post graduate course at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Bakimore, M.D. 

Dr. Lynch was a Commissioner of 
Health in 1891 and 1892, and is pathologist, 
bacteriologist and visiting phy.sician to the 
Bridgeport Hospital. He is a member of 
the State,City and American Medical As.soci- 
ations, also Vice-President of the County 
iledical Society. 

In politics he is a Democrat. Dr. Lynch 
was married to ]\Iiss Sadie Esther Walls, 
April 18, 1S95. 

N A T 1 1 .\ X 1 1-: L 1-: U ( ; E N E \V( ) R I) I X, 
^I.D., commenced his earthly career in 
Bridgeport, Conn., May 26, 1844, and after 
receiving a rudimentary education in the 
public schools, took the academic course at 
Wilbraham, Mass., and desiring a higher 
jiroficiency as a scholar, entered Y'ale Col- 
lege. After graduating he commenced the 
study of medicine, and after a full course, 
began the practice of medicine, for which 
he showed a natural aptitude from the start. 
In August, 1863, the country needing his 
services, he went to the front, serving 
gallantly under Generals Stillman and 
Butler, and entered Richmond, \'a., the 
day of its capture. It is worth mentioning 
for its historic value, that it was his hand 
that drew up (ieneral Shepley's order, 
placing that city under martial law, and 
that he was lionorably discharged at the 
close of the war. Dr. Wordin married, 
■ra\es, . . . December 25, 1863, Miss Elizabeth 

AVorthington Barnes, and one child was 

born to bless their union. Dr. Wordin is a man of remarkable attainments, and both professionally 

and socially is respected by all. 




J. READ TOPPING, ^.lA). — Of the many famihes whose past will be forever glorified by the 
sacrifices made by them during the War of Independence, to release their country from the yoke of an 
alien monarchy, the family of Topping stand conspicuous. 

Dr. Topping's great grandfather, John Rippey, was Captain of the 6th Company, 8th Battalion, of 
Associators, and Militia of York County, Pennsylvania, and served four years under General Washing- 
ton, achieving distinction at the battles cf \'allev Foree and Y'orktown. 



128 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



J. Read Topping, M.D., is the son of the Rev. Samuel Topping and Cynthia E. Topping (Read), 
and was born in Seneca, Ontario County, October 24, 1852. His preliminary education was received at the 
Canandaigua Academy, finishing his academic course at the Upper Canada College. The natural bent 
of his disposition for the profession of medicine caused him to enter the Medical College of the 
University of New York, and after a full course in all branches of the science, was graduated with 
honors, and received his degrees. In 1887 he came to Bridgeport and began the practice of his 
profession. There is no doubt that the success allotted to Dr. Topping is the result of his painstaking 
effort on behalf of the patients under his care, and in surgery he has performed many dangerous 
operations successfully. Dr. Topping is a visiting surgeon to the Bridgeport General Hospital, and 
the performance of his duties there has no doubt been of great assistance in securing for that 

institution the great name it bears for 
successful treatment. He is a member of 
the Algonquin Club, thirty-second degree 
Mason, K. of P., Forester, Connecticut 
Medical Society, and has the honor of being 
an ex-President of the Bridgeport Medical 
Society. Dr. Topping married, November 
23, T882, Eliza Haslett, daughter of the 
late Henry and Mary Haslett, the issue 
being four children (Mary, Louise and 
Ruth, one being deceased). The portrait 
appended is a very excellerft one of Dr. 
Topping, whose friends and patients in the 
Park City are numbered among the best 
and wealthiest inhabitants. 

FRANCIS JAMES YOUNG, M.D., 

was born in Cornwall, Conn., February 24, 
1843. He was one of those favored mortals 
for whom nature plainly marks out their 
life work, and at a very early age he began 
the study of medicine in the famous sani- 
tarium of Dr. Knight, of Salisbury. Here 
he received valuable training, and he 
always looked back with delight to this 
boyish initiation into the work of aiding the 
suffering. In 1S60 he entered the Yale 
Medical School, but the Civil War broke in 
upon his studies, and in August, 1862, he 
enlisted in Company B, Nineteenth Con- 
necticut Voltmteers. After becoming a 
Corporal, he was assigned to the medical 
ceorge w. Osborn, 11. u. department, where he served faithfully in 

various capacities until 1865, when he 
resumed his medical studies at Yale College, from which he graduated in the class of 1866. Soon 
after graduation he married Miss Elizabeth Hayes. They had three children, of whom only one, a 
son, survives him. 

Dr. Young began practicing in Riverton, Conn., where he soon became a popular physician. He 
was made President of the Litchfield County Medical Society, but the keen, active life of Bridgeport 
appealed to his energetic nature, and in 1870 he removed to this city. With the exception of a few 
months of western travel, it remained his residence until he died. Possessing an unusually handsome 
and impressive personality, the young doctor speedily became a prominent figure in Bridgeport. He 
took a warm interest in all medical afifairs, and threw himself heartily into the battle for sanitary 
reform. It was not a popular cause in those early days, but Dr. Young was unwearied in pleading for 




THE -STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF r.RH)GEPORT. 



129 



better drainage, purer water supply, healthier dwellings, and improved hygienie conditions for the 
schools. He conducted elaborate investigations into the origin of the most prevalent local diseases, 
and prepared a map of Bridgeport, giving the habitat, seasons and duration of these sicknesses for a 
number of years. He was essentially progressive, and kept well abreast of the most advanced 
medical knowledge of the time. Above all, he believed in the nineteenth century gospel of preventive 
medicine — the teaching of people to avoid disease by obedience to the laws of life. A man of 
undaunted courage, his firmness and executive ability were proverbial ; but he also possessed an 
exceptionally broad and sympathetic nature. By kindliness and tact he won battles others would 
have lost, and converted his opponents into friends. His professional brethren loved him, and 

delighted to honor him. He was a mem- 
ber of the County, vState and National 
Medical Associations, and also of the Na- 
tional Health Association. He subsequently 
became President of the Bridgeport Board 
of Health and President of the Fairfield 
County Medical Society, for both of which 
he prepared excellent papers on hygienic 
subjects, many of which were published. 

He was a Republican in politics, and 
the social side of his disposition was shown 
by the fact that he was an Odd Fellow 
and a member of the vSeaside Clul). It 
was, however, among his patients that the 
full beauty of Dr. Young's character dis- 
played itself. He was a brave and skillful 
surgeon, quick and accurate in diagnosis, 
and exceedingly fertile in resources. 
More than this, he was so warm-hearted 
and kindly, so bright and full of life, 
that his calm, sunny presence was like a 
tonic to the suifering. He was especially 
tender to children ; he never thought of 
money; the fact that people were poor 
and friendless seemed to give thein a 
sacred claim upon him. In 1883 he 
married Dr. Mary Rising, the well-known 
physician of this city, and found much 
happiness in her trained sympathy and 
companionship. Nevertheless, his un- 
ceasing toil was surely and steadiy wearing 
out the strong stately frame, and his later 
years were a heroic struggle against 
almost constant suffering. The end came 
Medical .Sociclv. He had just responded 




John C. Ly 

suddenly, January 5, 1891 
to the sentiment : 



at a banquet of the Danbury 



• • Kiudly and warm and tender 
He nestled each childish palm 
So close to his own that his touch was a prayer. 
And his voice a blessed psalm," 

with a mingled wit and pathos which moved all present, when he was seized with illness. In less 
than an hour the brilliant active brain was at rest, and the warm heart of Bridgeport's "beloved 
physician " had ceased to beat. Few of her citizens were ever more deeply and sincerely mourned, or 
ever left a place in her civic life more difficult to fill. 



130 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



MARY RISING YOUNG was born in the fine old town of Suffiekl, Conn., and received most of 
her early education at the celebrated Connecticut Literary Institution there, from which she graduated 
with distinction. She then became a teacher near Boston, and taught for several years with con- 
stantly increasing success. Feeling, however, that the special qualities which made her a successful 
instructor would find a broader field in the medical profession, she entered the College of the New 
York Infirmary, founded by Drs. Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell. Here she threw herself so eagerly 
into her work, that in the second year of her course, she felt the need of more extended instruction, 
and therefore transferred her studies to the medical school of the University of Michigan, from which 
she graduated in 1876. For a year after her graduation she was physician at the New England 
Hospital for Women and Children, in Boston, and the following year she became physician in the 
Infirmary for Women and Children at No. 
5 Livingston place. New York City. She 
then opened an office in Bridgeport, where 
she speedily obtained a lucrative practice. 
In 1883 she married Dr. Francis J. Young, 
in conjunction with whom she continued 
the active practice of her profession until 
his lamented death in January, 1893. She 
wisely resolved to leave, for a time, a 
city which had so many sad associations 
for her, and entered upon a course of 
highly specialized post graduate work in 
New York City. She gave particular at- 
tention to the development of electricity 
as a therapeutic agent. In 1896 she re- 
turned to Bridgeport, and resumed her 
practice almost opposite the old house in 
State street, where she and her hus- 
band had labored together for nearly a 
decade. 

Dr. Rising Young has the distinction 
of having been the first woman member 
of the Bridgeport and Fairfield County 
Medical Associations, and until 1893, 
the only one. She was also one of 
the first women admitted to member- 
ship in the State Medical Associa- 
tion. 

Dr. Young is a member of the South 
Congregational Church, and one of the 
managers of the Young Women's Chris- 
tian Association. Besides her scientific 
studies, she has always taken a deep inter- 
est in literature, though the demands of her profession allow her little time for pursuits outside (f it. 

H. ADALINE THOMPSON, M.D., is numbered among the few women physicians of the Park 
City, where she has been practicing her profession fur about three years. Bom at West Springfield, 
Mass., and receiving a preliminary education at Williston Seminary, at Easthampton and Wheaton 
Seminary at Norton, in that state, her desire to become a physician was carried out by courses at the 
Woman's Medical College, of Pennsylvania, of which she is a graduate and member of the Alumnae 
Association. She later served as interne at the Woman's Hospital in Philadelphia, and was resident 
physician at the Maternity Hospital, in the same city. Post graduate courses were also pursued at 
the Philadelphia Polyclinic and College for graduates in medicine. She is a member of the Bridge- 
port Medical Association, and of the Connecticut Medical Society. 




THE ''STAXDAIWS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



131 



Dr. Thompson, 011 September 29, 1S69, was married to Lauriston Thompson, of Poultney. Vt., 
who died in 1891. Before her marriage, Dr. Thompson was Miss Harriet Adaline King. She is a 
member of the South Congregational Church, and medical examiner for the Ladies' of the Maccabees. 




Francis J. Young, M D. 



CELEST. A. BENEDICT, 
M.D. — The present century 
notes many advances, one of 
which is the admission of 
women to the variotis positions 
formerly occupied by men ; 
earnest, persistent, conscien- 
tious labor has at last won a 
place for their sex in the 
medical profession, and they 
are legally allowed to relieve 
suffering humanity. 

Celest. A. Benedict, M.D., 
was born in Newtown, Conn., 
in 1840. She early developed 
a taste for nature. Her girl 
and early \vomanhood were 
largel)' spent in studying the 
works of nature. Herbs and 
roots greatly occupied her at- 
tention. With the aid of one 




of her ancestors she early acquired a knowledge of their use. Physicians at that time were few, 
and resided some miles distant, consequently, she was frequently called upon to dispense remedies, 
which she freely gave from her store of herbs in the attic. At the age of sixteen, the village doctor, 
the late Dr. Hall, gained her father's consent that she might study for a physician, assuring him 

that she had the natural gift 

for the profession, and it 

should be cultivated. She, 

however, deferred the matter 

until a few^ years later, when 

an attack of typhoid fever, 

complicated with double 

])neumonia, nearly cost her 

her life. A serious cough 

and the breaking down of a 

once robust constitution at last 

led her to take up the work 

ordained for her from the 

beginning. In 1869 she be- 
came the pupil of Dr. Almira 

L. Fowler, of Orange, N. Y., 

a sister of Mrs. Wells and 

Prof. O. S. Fowler, of New 

York, remaining with her for 

one year. 

H. Adaline Tlionipson, M.IX NcrVOUS prostration then Celest. A. Benedict, M.D. 

demanded a rest of fourteen 
months, nothing daunted, she entered the Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia, and was gradu- 
ated March 13, 1874. The first year after graduation she declined a position tendered her in the 
Woman's Hospital of Philadelpliia and accepted a position in Dr. Cordelia Green's Sanitarium at 





132 THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

Castile, N. Y., as assistant physician for one year, after which she began practice in her native town, 
where she remained until jNIarch 9, 1882, then the shadows of the unwelcome messenger claimed a 
devoted father, and prostration of a nervous order again threatened life's " silver cord." The follow- 
ing November she removed to Bridgeport, where she previously had built up a practice by visiting 
the city twice weekly. 

Being naturally of an independent character, by her exertions alone, paid her college expenses. The 
doctor is a member of the Alumnse Association of her Alma Mater and an honorary member of the 
Scientific Society of this cit)'. 

Dr. Benedict's father was a member of the Connecticut Legislature in 185 1, and her great grand- 
father was a Captain in the Revolutionary Army. 

FREDERICK BRADLEY DOWNS, physician and surgeon, is a native of Danbury, Conn, 
where he was born, January 3, 1856. He received his preparatory education at Moore's Mill Institute, 
and was graduated from Columbia College. Some nineteen years ago he repaired to Bridgeport_and 
engaged in the practice of his profession, which he has continued ever since. Dr. Downs has-been 
medical examiner of the city, and a member of the Board of Health. He belongs to the Lotus Club, 
of New York City, the vSeaside, Algonquin, Country and Outing Clubs ^of Bridgeport, and is_a mem- 
ber of the Medical Societv. 




CHAPTHR XXlll. 



(JEXERAL BIOGRAPHY. 

IjON. DANIEL H. STERLING was born July lo, 1S19, in the old Sterling- Mansion on Main street, 
^ * where now stands the State Armory. The first of the name to settle here was Jacob Sterling, in 
1677. ■ Stephen, son of Jacob, was born 1747. One of Stephen's sons was Abijah Sterling, who held a 

commission of Captain in the American 
Revolution. Capt. Abijah Sterling left 
five sons. One was Daniel Sterling, one 
of the incorporators of the City of Bridge- 
port, and its second Mayor. In early life 
he was Captain and owner of various ships 
sailing between this country and Europe. 

Captain Daniel was an energetic char- 
acter, and left an impress of his good work 
upon the formation of this city in its early 
history. The subject of this sketch, Daniel 
H. Sterling, was the youngest son of 
Captain Daniel Sterling. His mother was 
Hannah, daughter of Col. Agur Jiidson, of 
Huntington, and granddaughter of 
Rebecca Welles, daughter of Governor 
Thomas Welles, of Hartford, one of the 
early Colonial Governors. Daniel H. Ster- 
ling was graduated from Union College, 
Schenectady, N. V., in 1840. In 1841 he 
entered the mercantile business under the 
firm name of D. H. Sterling & Company. 
In 1842 he married Maria M. Beck 
granddaughter of Paul Beck, Jr., of Phil- 
adelphia. He continued in business with 
some changes until 1S61, when he retired. 
In the meantime he had become a Director 
in the Connecticut State Bank, of which 
his father was one of the original incor- 
porators. In 1875 he was elected to the 
Presidency of the Connecticut National 
Bank, and continued to hold that office 
until his death, March i, 1877. The con- 
fidence reposed in him on all sides, and his 
disinterested willingness to serve, plated 
him in uncounted positions of trust and responsibility of greater or less importance. No request for 
service of this kind was ever refused, no trust in him was ever disappointed. He was early and long 
interested in municipal affairs. In the years 1848-51, in 1853, 1858, 1870-71, he was in the 
Common Council. In 1855 and 1859 he was Alderman. In 1856 he was the choice of his party for 
the Mayoralty; in 1860-61-62 he filled the office — the third time he had no opponent in the canvass. 
In this thirteen years of service no suspicion of corruption, no'^blemish of his fair fame ever attached 
to him. 




Daniel II. Sterling. 



134 THE "STASDARUS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

The 3'ears of his Magistracy were most trying ones to fall upon. Scarcely had he the reins of 
office fairly in hand, when the opening scenes of the great Civil War began to be enacted, and the 
intensity of his patriotism, and the promptness and decisiveness of the measures he took in the public 
interest, evinced how thoroughly he rose to the great emergency. Instantly upon the coming of the 
news of the firing upon Fort Sumter, he issued his call for a public meeting, and by his ringing words 
and his example, stimulated his fellow citizens to the raising of a large amount for the maintenance of 
the Union. Vigorous were his elforts throughout the period of his Magistracy to do all that was 
possible to promote the cause of law and order, and to uphold the defenders of the Government. The 
late Gov. Buckingham spoke warmly of his appreciation of the efficiency of Mr. SterHng's services at 
this time, in raising, equipping, forwarding and caring for the soldiers whom the city was called 
upon to furnish. He spared no exertion; he exhibited and inspired in others singular enthusiasm and 
energy. Among the War Mayors he earned an honorable place. Nor was his interest in the soldiers 
merely that of an official. His humane sympathies, his per-sistent friendship toward them personally, 
were conspicuously illustrated, and his interest in the pubUc memorial of the fallen was unwearied 
down to the period of its completion. 

It was not until many years after his death that even his own immediate family discovered the 
sum total of the large sums he had given for the Union cause. He gave freely and never told of it. 
This, like many other traits in the character of this modest man, made him beloved, honored and 
respected by all who knew him. His charities were unostentatious, numerous and generously bestowed, 
and he always manifested true sympathy. He was justly known and styled "a good-hearted man." He 
loved righteousness and justice, and hated iniquity. Of truth and honesty he gave a noble example ; 
and the conviction in the public mind that he was incorruptible is a better heritage of a life than would 
be for fuller coffers, for broader lands, for nobler piles of buildings, than were his, without his 
unspotted name. 

Daniel H. Sterling was six feet three and one-half inches tall, and distinguished in personal 
appearance. Like his ancestor, Captain Abijah Sterling, he was styled " one of Nature's noblemen." 
]\Ir. Sterling, during the war, called upon Abraham Lincoln. During the interview he and Mr. Lincoln 
measured their respective heights by standing back to back. The President was one-half an inch the 
taller. Mr. Sterling often spoke afterward of that measurement of height as an incident of which to be 
proud. He had the greatest and most profound respect and admiration for the martyred President, 
and never begrudged him that extra half inch. Daniel H. Sterling, like his father Captain Daniel 
Sterling, left the imprint of his energy upon his native city in many ways. It was he, when Mayor in 
1 86 1, who secured for the Police Department the first uniforms. Also the same year he brought to 
Bridgeport the first steam fire engine. This was done against great opposition of the old hand system 
department, and it was a struggle against odds to maintain steam fire engine No. i in the face of the 
majority of the community. Mayor Sterling, however, held out against the bitterest opposition and 
Steamer No. i became the nucleus of our present splendid fire system. Mr. Sterling, also, was the 
prime mover in securing the erection of the Soldiers' Monument. 

Mr.s. D. H. Sterling, his wife, was President, during the war, ot the Soldiers' Aid Society. After 
peace was restored there were funds remaining in the hands of the Aid Society. This sum was used 
to start the fund to build a Soldiers' Monument. For ten years the Aid Society worked to raise a 
sufficient amount to build the monument. During this time Mr. Sterling gave personal attention to 
raising the fund to $28,500, and the year before he died was present at the dedication. Mrs. Sterling 
laid the corner stone in 1866, and at the dedication in 1876 D. H. Sterling delivered the oration. Daniel 
H. Sterling was an ardent advocate for the establishment of our free public school system, and from 
the beginning to the day of his death was Vice-President of the Board of Education. He was one of 
the original stockholders of the first street railroad, and started the books for that corporation, which 
were kept according to the .system as planned by him until the road passed into other hands. These 
are but part of the incidents during his public career. In private life he was devoted to his home and 
party. His tastes were in the lines of art, literature and miisic. He possessed a fine library and was 
fond of the broad, free and manly thinking authors. Of all books he loved one the best, and in his 
admonitions to his children used to say " Read the Good Book and stick to its teaching, then you will 
never go wrong." His widow and his three children still survive him — Julian H. Sterling, Mrs. 
Wm. E. Baillie and Mrs. Walter S. Baillie. 



THE -STAXDARirS'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



'35 



CHARLES BENJAMIN HUBBELL, one of the earlier and best known Mayors of the city, was 
in many ways a man of unusual ability and attainments. His memory is still cherished with sincere 
affection by a large circle of friends of his family, although but few of its immediate members are now 
numbered among the residents of Bridgeport. It was in 1852 and 1853, when the city was really in 
its developmentalstage, that he held the position of Chief Executive, and in no small measure were the 
advances of that period due to his far-sighted wisdom and keen interest in all municipal matters. The 
following sketch, taken from the Standard of May 13, 1873, gives a brief resume of his closing years, 
and alludes fittingly to his career: " The Hon. Charles Benjamin Hubbell died at the residence of his 
daughter, !Mrs. P. M. Thorp, on Golden Hill, after a brief illness. He had been failing somewhat for 



a few months past, 
ception of a cold 
seemed to be 
specific disease, 
alarming signs of 
few hours before 
tained his mental 
a remarkable de- 
worship a week ago 
North Church, 
had been constant 

( )n Saturday 
dent that the 
which he had borne 
men ever do, was 
and his once vigor- 
had lost the elas- 
had risen from pre- 
that he sunk grad- 
creasing weakness, 
quietly and pain- 
asleep in the full- 

At the time 
Hubbell was prob- 
zen born here, and 
port grow from a 
to its present pro- 
last birthday, 
Hubbell was 
old, and those who 
member that his 
erect, his mind as 
ner as prompt as 
Bridgeport in what 
(then Mutton lane, 




Cliarles B. Hubbell (Deceased), 



but with the ex- 
a n d a cough, 
troubled with no 
and did not show 
weakness until a 
his death. He re- 
and bodily vigor to 
gree, and attended 
Sunda)' at the 
where his presence 
for many years, 
last it became evi- 
weight of years, 
hitherto as few 
telling upon him, 
o u s constitution 
ticity with which it 
vious attacks, so 
ually under an in- 
passing away 
lessly, falling 
ness of years, 
of his death Mr. 
ably the oldest citi- 
hehadseen Bridge- 
very small village 
portions. At his 
March 20, Mr. 
eighty-four years 
saw him then re- 
tall figure was as 
clear, and his man- 
ever. Born in 
is now Park avenue 
afterward Division 



street) eighty-four years ago, always living here and doing business here from the time he was nineteen 
years of age, identified with the place through all the active years of his business life, taking a large 
interest in its welfare and maintaining that interest to the last, even after he had retired from active 
life, he was a man universally known and respected, and whose loss will be very widely and generally 
felt and deplored. 

He was engaged in active business for a period of nearly forty years, being in the general 
mercantile, shipping and dry goods business, and was noted during all that time for honorable dealing, 
sterling integrity, promptness and dignity of bearing. In the years 1852 and 1853 he filled the position 
of Mayor of the then growing city with efficiency and honor, and was at various times called to fill 
other positions of trust, the duties of which he always discharged with integrity and ability. 



136 THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

He was President of the old Pequonnock Bank for a number of )-ears, and was a prudent and able 
financier. He was successful in business and retired upon a competency something over twent)' years 
ago, but had personally attended to the details of his own affairs ever since, and never ceased to take 
an active interest in all matters affecting the welfare of the city. He attended the North Congrega- 
tional Church all his life, and was for many years a member of that church, and always a regular 
attendent on the ministrations of the sanctuary. 

He had no dread of death, but was sustained by the firm faith he ever professed, and expressed 
his entire willingness to go whenever the summons should come. He was a luan of great benevolence 
and under a somewhat bluff exterior carried a large and warm heart, ever open to the appeal of 
suffering hiimanity, and was ever doing, in an unostentatious inanner, deeds of kindness and charity, 
which endeared him to a wide circle of friends among all classes. Mr. Hubbell was twice married and 
by his first wife had a large famil}', most of the members of which are still living. His second wife 
survives him. 

Although 'Mr. Hubbell liad outlived the alhjtted three score years and ten by over a score, he 
had never, as is the case with many old citizens, dropped out of public notice or ceased to take an 
active interest in the affairs of his fellow men. His erect figure, dignity of manner and striking 
appearance, made him a man of mark wherever he went, and he was as well known perhaps as an)^ 
citizen of the community. He was a man to whom may be applied most fitly the words of the great 
poet: "Take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again." 

While the sympathy of the community will be freely extended to his family, he will be mourned, 
not as one cut down in the prime of life, but remembered and honored as one who, in the fulness of 
years with his life work well done and leaving an honorable record behind him to his children, and 
the community in which he had always lived, answered to the summons of his Master cheerfully, and 
was gathered like a full ear in the harvest. 

After the adjournment of the Common Council last evening, news having been received of the 
death of Mr. Hubbell, it was announced by the Mayor, and resolutions of an appropriate character 
expressing the sorrow of the Coimcil were passed, together with one that the Council attend the funeral 
in a body. " 

NATHANIEL WHEELER, .son of David and Sarah (De Forest) Wheeler, was born at 
Watertown, Connecticut, September 7, 1820. He was a descendent, in the seventh generation, from 
Moses Wheeler, who came from the county of Kent, England, probably in 1638, received an allotment 
of land at New Haven in 1643, and was settled in Stratford in T648. 

David Wheeler, the father of Nathaniel, was a carriage manufacturer, and the son learned 
that trade, in which, while yet a minor, he acquired a high reputation for skill, ingenuit)^ and 
good taste. 

Upon reaching his majority, Nathaniel took the carriage business, and for five years conducted it 
successfully for his own account. Thereafter, he engaged in the manufacture of various small 
metallic articles, and by substituting machiner)' for hand labor, very greatly reduced the cost of 
production, thus early displaying that practical abihty which marked his subsequent career. 

For the better prosecution of his business he formed, 1848, a co-partnership with Messrs. Warren 
& Woodruff, of the same town, under the firm name of "Warren, Wheeler & Woodruff." A new 
factory was built, and the entire management of the business was placed in the hands of Mr. Wheeler, 
who made it a thorough success from the start. 

In December, 1850, Mr. Wheeler's attention was attracted to the earliest form of Allen B. 
Wilson's sewing machine, and with a keen foresight of possibilities, he contracted, in behalf of his 
own firm, to manufacture a considerable number of such machmes. He engaged Mr. Wilson to 
superintend that branch of their manufacturing department, and soon after, arrangements were 
completed to make the manufacture of sewing machines a separate and distinct business. For this 
purpose a company was formed by Messrs. AVarren, Wheeler, Wilson and Woodruff, under the style of 
" Wheeler, Wilson & Co.," Mr. Wheeler having charge of the mercantile department, and Mr. Wil.son 
of the mechanical. Mr. Wilson soon invented material improvements in his machine, which were to 
a very great extent organized and put into practical shape by Mr. Wheeler. 

The introduction of that machine, the original " Wheeler & Wilson," to the public, the placing of 



1 



I 



TUB ■■STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 137 

it in factories and the demonstration of its adaptability to use in families — all this was the personal 
work of Mr. Wheeler almost exclusively. 

In October, 1853, the "Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company " was organized under the 
general law of the state of Connectictit. Mr. Wheeler was made general manager of the company, 
and he held the office of President as well as General Manager from 1855 to the time of his death. 

In 1856 the works of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company were moved from Watertown 
to IJridgeport, and from that time forth Mr. Wheeler was a resident of this city, to the best interests 
of which he was zealously devoted. 

Mr. Wheeler's lifework was most intimately connected with the origin and development of the 
art of sewing by machinery, in which he achieved a world-wide reputation. It may .safely be asserted 
that credit for the progress made in that art during his life was due to Nathaniel Wheeler in a greater 
degree than to any other one man. In recognition of his services in this department of industry, he 
was decorated at the World's Exposition, Vienna, 1873, with the Knight's Cross of the Imperial Order 
of Francis Josef, and at the Exposition Univcrsellc, Paris, 1859, he was made a Chevalier of the Legion 
of Honor of France. 

In this connection should be made some mention of ^Ir. Wheeler's inventive ability, which, in 
itself, affords a proof of his versatility. 

Mostly as sole inventor, but in some instances jointly with others, he took out patents for 
inventions in wood filling compounds, power transmitters, polishing the eyes of needles, refrigerators, 
ventilating railway cars, heating and ventilating btiildings, and for a multitude of devices having 
relation to the construction of sewing machines. 

His intelligence and activity were by no means confined to that enterprise with which his name 
is, and will always remain, indis.solubly connected. He was at all times deeply interested in the affairs 
of his city and state. He was one of the corporators and a trustee of the People's Savings Bank, a 
Director in the Bridgeport City Bank, the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, the Bridgeport Horse 
Railroad Company, the Fairfield Rubber Company, the Willimantic Linen Company and the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company; one of the founders and the first President of the 
Seaside Club, and always an active member of the Bridgeport Board of Trade; a member of the 
Bridgeport Board of Education from its establishment imtil shortly before his death, and a member 
of the Building Committees of the Bridgeport High School and the Fairfield Cotmty Court House, the 
Directing Comtnissioner in the laying out and completion of Seaside Park, of which he was also one of 
the chief donors. 

He was chiefly instrumental in putting Mountain Grove Cemetery into its present creditable 
form, and St. John's Church received from him its most munificent donations. He was a member 
and a liberal stipporter of the Fairfield County Historical Society and the Bridgeport Scientific Society. 

Mr. Wheeler was the most active member of the commission for the building of the state 
Capitol at Hartford, a magnificent structtire, which is especially notable for the fact that it was 
completed without a stain of jobbery, and within the appropriation. 

He served a number of years in the Common Council of the City of Bridgeport. From 1866 to 
1872, inclusive, he represented Bridgeport in the House of Representatives, and in 1873 and 1874 he 
served with distinction as state vSenator. It should be added that he repeatedly declined higher 
political honors than he ever consented to accept. 

Mr. \Vheeler was blessed with robust health until early in the autumn of 1893, when it began to 
fail, and after a painful illness he closed a life of intense activity and widespread usefulness on the last 
day of that year, at his residence on Golden Hill, in this city. 

In 1842 Mr. Wheeler took to wife, Huldah Bradley, of Watertown, who died in 1875. By this 
marriage there were four children, two of whom are living — Samuel H., now President of Wheeler & 
Wilson Manufacturing Company, and Ellen B., wife of Edward Harral, of Fairfield, Conn. 

Mr. Wheeler's second wife, still surviving him, was Mary E. Crissy, of New Canaan. By this 
marriage there were four sons, two of whom. Archer Crissy and William Bishop, are now living, and 
reside in Bridgeport. The eldest son, Harry De Forest, died at the age of eighteen years. Arthur 
Penoyer, the youngest son, died in infancy. 

As a business man, Mr. Wheeler was distinguished for his organizing and administrative abilities, 
his energy, enterprise, foresight, good judgment and fair dealing — qualities which were recognized not 
only locally, but throughout the civilized world. All officers, clerical employes and workmen of the 



jjS THE -'STAXDARD-S'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

great corporation, of which he was for so many yeai's the head, for the welfare of every one of whom 
he was deeply solicitous, were aflected toward him with a feeling stronger than mere respect or 
admiration. 

In public affairs he always had deeply at heart the best interests of his city, the state and of the 
nation, as he understood them, and to those interests he contributed no little thought, labor and 
money. In politics he was a consistent and thorough-going Democrat, but not an unreasoning 
partisan. He was a philanthropist of the be.st sort, unostentatious but beneficient to the last degree. 
A multitude of the poor know how great was his bounty in dispensing charity, but he never advertised 
his good deeds. 

His natural but unostentatious dignity veiled an underlying geniality in companionship, which was 
revealed to his more intimate acquaintances, while all his purely social qualities were surpassed by his 
steadfastness and devotion as a friend. The record of his life is without a stain, and the world is 
surely better off for his having lived. 

The beautiful residence on Golden Hill, in which he lived for so many years, and where he 
breathed his last, is now occupied by Mrs. Wheeler and her sons. The artistic taste of Mr. Wheeler is 
displayed in the interior appointments of the spacious dwelling, and in the treatment of the surrounding 
grounds. It is to be hoped that the homestead may long remain as it now is — an ornament to the 
city he loved so well. 

WHEELER & WILSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY.— A complete history of the Wheeler 
& Wilson Manufacturing Company would involve a pretty full account of the origin and development 
of the art of sewing by machinery, but the salient points only can be touched upon in this sketch. 

The sewing machine, perhaps the most important of all labor-saving devices, is essentially the 
product of American genius. Thomas Saint's machine, with its awl and notched-end needle, patented 
in England in 1790, the embroidering machine of Heilmann, patented in England in 1829, in which 
was used the double pointed needle invented by Weisenthal in 1755, and the embroidering machines of 
Thimonier, of France, patented in 1830, constituted not even a stepping-stone to the really practical 
sewing machine. Whatever may have been the actual merits of a sewing machine invented by Walter 
Hunt, of New York, about 1832-34, that machine died of neglect or inherent defects, and the 
strenuous efforts made some twenty years later to revive it, failed to galvanize it into life. All these 
and other experiments had been forgotten or abandoned when Elias Howe, after some years of experi- 
menting, patented, in 1846, a sewing machine which constituted the first substantial step in advance. 
This machine, with its curved, eye-pointed needle for the upper thread, its shuttle carrying the lower 
thread, and its " baster plate" carrying the cloth suspended vertically, made the lock-stitch, but 
was defective in its operation and lacked one essential element of a really efficient sewing machine, 
namely a "feed" which would not simply enable the machine to sew a predetermined seam, but 
would allow the operator to change the direction of the seam at will. 

In 1847, Allen B. Wilson (born at Willett, Cortlandt County, N. Y., October 18, 1824, died at 
Woodmont, Conn., April 29, 1888), then working at his trade as a journeyman cabinet maker, con- 
ceived the invention of a sewing machine. It is certain that at that time he had never seen a sewing 
machine, and it is said that he never heard of one. Late in 1848 he completed drawings of the 
machine at Pittsfield, Mass., to which place he had removed and found employment at his trade. On 
February 3, 1849, he commenced the construction of his machine, and about the first of the following 
April he had completed it, having done all the work with his own hands. Not being a practical 
mechanic, and lacking the proper tools for metal work, he was unable to produce a machine perfect 
in all respects, but it was operative and sufficient to illustrate the principles of his invention and 
demonstrate their practical value. In this machine he employed a curved, eye-pointed needle, a two- 
pointed shuttle, making a stitch at each forward and each backward movement, and a two-motion 
feed. This two-motion feed consisted of a horizontally reciprocating, serrated bar, at all times in 
contact with the cloth, moving the material forward at the proper time by the forward inclination of 
the teeth, and receding while the material was held in position by the needle before it was withdrawn 
therefrom. This was the first machine that contained a device answering to any extent the require- 
ments of a feed which would permit the operator to control at will the direction of the stitching, and 
sew continuous seams of any required length, either straight or of any required degree of angle or 
curvature. Wilson built another machine on the same plan, but of better construction, in ]\Iay of the 



THE "STAXDARfrS'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 139 

same year, at North Adams, Mass. The United States patent for Wilson's first machine was issued 
November 12, 1850. 

Finding his shuttle not altoi^^ether satisfactor\-, Wilson sought for a substitute, and soon produced 
a machine in which a rotating hook and reciprocating bobbin replaced the shuttle, and a segmental 
screw-thread feed took the place of the two-motion feed of his first machine. For this invention a 
patent was issued August 12, 185 1, the same day on which a patent was issued to Isaac M. Singer for 
his first sewing machine. Not satisfied with this, he obtained, June 15, 1852, a patent for a sewing 
machine with rotating hook and stationary bobbin. In this last machine he introduced and described, 
but did not claim, his celebrated four-motion feed which, in some form or other, has been almost 
universally adopted. For this form of feed he obtained a patent, December 19, 1854. 

The four patents last mentioned are all that were ever issued for Wilson's inventions relating to 
sewing machines, but they broadly covered the fundamental elements of the Wheeler & Wilson sys- 
tem of rotary hook, lock-stitch machines. The first practical sewing machines introduced into families 
were constructed conformably with Wil-son's last construction. 

The most ingenious inventors are not always good business men. The development of Wilson's 
inventions, the putting of this machine into good mechanical form, and making it an industrial and 
commercial success, were due almost entirely to the sagacity, energy and administrative ability of 
Nathaniel Wheeler. 

At the time of Wilson's earliest inventions, Mr. Wheeler was a member and the manager of the 
firm of AV'arren, Wheeler & Woodruff, who manufactured various small metallic wares at Watertown, 
Conn. In December, 1850, while on a business trip to New York, Mr. Wheeler saw on exhibition one 
of Wilson's earliest sewing machines, the patent for which was at that time controlled by E. Lee & Co. 
Foreseeing great possibilities, he contracted to build five himdred of them at the factory of his firm, 
and engaged Mr. Wilson to act as Superintendent in their manufacture. 

For good and sufficient reasons, however, all business relations with the New York firm were soon 
terminated, and the contract was never performed. Warren, Wheeler, Woodruff & Wilson now 
formed a copartnership under the name of "Wheeler, Wilson & Co.," for the purpose of developing 
Wilson's inventions, and for the manufacture and sale of sewing machines embodying his devices. 
They manufactured the original " Wheeler & Wilson" machine with curved needle, rotating hook, 
stationary bobbin and four-motion feed, and, mainly through the intelligent, energetic and persevering 
efforts of Mr. Wheeler, they made that machine a thorough success, not only in the household, but in 
light manufacturing. 

After several hundred machines had been made and sold, this co-partnership was succeeded in 
October, 1853, by the W^heeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, organized as a joint stock company 
under the general laws of the State of Connecticut, with a capital of $160,000, the patents being 
valued at $100,000, and the factory, machinery and stock on hand at $60,000. Stock to the amount of 
§70,000 was subscribed for at par by outside parties, who gave their notes therefor. The subscribers 
were never called upon to pay any part of these notes, which, as they became due, were all liquidated 
b)' dividends. 

The officers of the Company at its organization were: Alanson Warren, President; George P. 
Woodruff, Secretary and Treasurer, and Nathaniel Wheeler, General ^lanager. Mr. Warren resigned 
his office in 1855, and was sricceeded by Mr. Wheeler, who retained, nevertheless, his position as 
General Manager. In the same year William H. Perry succeeded 'Sir. Woodruff" as Secretary, and 
he was made Treasurer also in the following year. Mr. Wheeler held the office of President thereafter 
as long as he lived. 

In 1856 the Company removed from Watertown to Bridgeport, after purchasing the factory of the 
Jerome Clock Company at the latter place. Its works have since been increased until its factories now 
cover some eight acres of ground, and usually afford employment for about 1,200 men. 

In 1864 a special charter was granted to the Company by act of the Legislature of the state and 
the capital stock was increased to $1,000,000. 

The old clock factory, with the additions which had been made to it, was destroyed by fire, 
December 12, 1875, and was immediately rebuilt on an improved plan. 

It is now not quite fifty years since the first Wheeler & Wilson machines were put on the market, 
but within that interval of time, the art of mechanical stitching has wrought a great and beneficent 
revolution throughout the civilized world in some of the most important industries. Less than half a 



I40 THE " STASDARUS" HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. 

century ago the same spirit which in 1841 actuated a French mob that destroyed the tambour-stitch 
machines of Thimonier, rendered it necessary to deliver sewing machines in the city of New York 
secretly, to escape violence at the hands of mistaken champions of the rights of labor, who maintained, 
and doubtless believed, that the introduction of such a labor-saving instrument would destroy the 
occupation of seamstresses. Where one seamstress was then employed, there are now scores of 
operatives at work with sewing machines on every kind of material capable of being stitched, turning 
out an immense product at greatly reduced cost, and receiving much higher wages than hand stitchers 
ever earned. During this time the sewing machines of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company 
have undergone such transformations that, although the fundamental principles embodied in the 
inventions of Allen B. Wilson still underlie the Company's product of to-day, most of the Wheeler & 
Wilson machines of the present time would hardly be recognized as outgrowths from the original. 

vSingle-needle, double-needle and multiple-needle machines for all kinds of cloth and leather work, 
button-hole machines, hem-stitch machines, zigzag and variety-stitch machines, with their endless 
variety of special appliance, are now among the daily products of the Company. Some of the 
machines are capable of making over 3,000 stitches a minute, in place of the few himdred stitches 
made in the same time a few years ago. 

Among the inventors who have been instrumental in working these changes may be mentioned 
James H. House, George H. Dimond, W. F. Dial, A. Steward, F. W. Ostrom and Nathaniel 
Wheeler himself. 

The executive officers of the Company at this time (July, 1S97), are Samuel H. Wheeler, 
President; Isaac Holden, Vice-President, and Frederick Hurd, Secretary and Treasurer. 

Mr. Wheeler, the President, was for many years at the head of the Company's house at Chicago, 
111., and was elected President soon after the death of his father, Nathaniel Wheeler, which occurred 
December 31, 1893. Mr. Holden has been connected with the Company more than twenty-five years, 
and Frederick Hurd more than forty years. 

PHINEAS TAYLOR BARNUM was born in the town of Bethel, Fairfield County, Conn., 
July 5, 18 10. He was a son of Philo Barnum, and the grandson of Ephraim Barnum, who was 
a captain in the War of the Revolution. His education was commenced at the district school at a very 
early age, his studies being conducted during the recreation hoiirs, or when farm work no longer 
demanded his attention. Being averse to farm work, he became clerk in a store which his father had 
acquired, thus early commencing his business career. On the 7th of September, 1825, his father died, 
leaving his family penniless, and then young Barnum started into the world, securing employment 
with a mercantile firm at Grassy Plains, at six dollars per month. After numerous vicissitudes he 
returned to his native town the possessor of $125, with which he started a fruit and confectionary 
store. The ambition of the youth to make money soon caused him to enter the lottery business 
(which at that time was legal in this state), and his success was unquestioned. He became an investor 
in several enterprises, until October 19, 1831, he founded the Herald of Freedom, of which he assumed 
the editorial management. His bluntness in different articles he had written caused his commitment 
for libel, and he languished in a prison cell for sixty days, receiving an ovation on his release. 

In 1834 he sold his paper and moved to New York, and after being employed as a drummer for 
several firms, opened a private boarding house, at the same time purchasing an interest in a grocery 
store. The summer of 1835 was an important epoch in the career of P. T. Barnum, for in that year 
he began the business which has made his name a household word in all civilized nations. 

Of the career of this remarkable man as an amusement manager little need be said, but we may 
as well chronicle the fact that the genius displayed in his powers of organization, foresight and keen 
business perception, places him on the pedestal of fame, side by side with the world's greatest 
soldiers, statesmen, litterateurs and men of science. P. T. Barnum's financial career was not always 
a pleasant one, but the wonderful grit and nerve which the man possessed overcame all obstacles, 
and the depths of misfortune would soon be left far behind. The winter headquarters of the show 
that still bears his name is located at Bridgeport, and the buildings and grounds are annually 
inspected by thousands. Politically Mr. Barnum was a Democrat previous to the breaking out of the 
War of the Rebellion, but after that period and up to the time of his demise he was a Republican. 
He was elected to the General Assembly of Connecticut, from the town of Fairfield, in 1865, and from 
Bridgeport in 1877. In 1875 he was elected Mayor of Bridgeport, and as he always had the best 




Phineas Tiilvor Ba 




Roland B. Lacev 



Till- -STAXDARI/S" IJISTOKY OF BRIDGBPORT. ,41 

interests of the city at heart, it is needless to say that his administration was eminently successful. 
The improvements in the Park City during the past decade can easily be traced back to the pioneer 
hand of this generous gentleman. The beautiful vSeaside Park was a creature of his fertile brain, and 
through his influence and generosity the idea soon became a reality, so that Bridgeport can, without 
question, claim the possession of the most beautifully situated park on this continent. He also 
secured to this city the beautiful Mountain Grove Cemetery. He has laid out many streets and 
planted hundreds of trees in Bridgeport proper, built blocks of houses, many of which he sold to 
mechanics on the monthly payment plan, thus providing a home for the thriftv, with as little cost as 
would be the payment of rent. 

Iranistan, P. T. Barnum's first residence, was destroyed by fire in 1857; subsequently he built a 
residence named Lindencroft, removing to Waldemere, his beautiful home by the sea, in 1869, which 
was in 1889 removed to make room for Marina, which remains to remind us of the great man who has 
passed from our midst, but whose memory still lingers. November 8, 1829, Mr. Barnum united in 
marriage with Charity Hallett, a native of Bethel, by whom he had four daughters, she passing away 
November 19, 1873. In the autumn of 1874 he married the daughter of his old English friend, John 
Fish, Esq., who still survives him. Bridgeport, with its many handsome gifts (notably the Barnum 
Institute of Science and History) iunw this eminent man, will revere his name for generations to 
come; and in all cities, towns and hamlets of this, or any country, the citizens will remember 
P. T. Barnum and his Greatest vShow on Earth, when all else is forgotten. 

ROWLAND B, LACEV. On March 31, 1S97, there passed away one of the oldest residents of 
Bridgeport, a man who had been closely identified with the city's life and who left behind him an 
enviable reputation, to be cherished by all who knew him. News of the death of Deacon Rowland 
B. Lacey came as a severe shock to the community. Honored, beloved, in the fullness of years and 
with his work well done, he bequeathed to the city with which he was for so long connected, the 
memory of an exemplary character and a well spent life. Politically he had borne many honors; 
socially he had attained to a prominent position; in religious affairs he had long been recognized as a 
true and devoted worker. Few citizens of Bridgeport were more generally known and none com- 
manded more fully the esteem of his acquaintances. A faithful and efficient public official, an 
industrious and far .sighted man of business, a consistent member of the church, constant in gcod 
works, the place of Deacon Lacey in the community will never be filled. The death of Deacon Lacey 
was a great surprise. Few knew that he was ill, and those who did had but a faint idea that his 
condition was serious. Only the week before he passed away, he had been about the city attending to 
business matters. A cold developed into bronchial pneumonia and death ensued. 

Rowland Bradley Lacey was the only son of Jesse and Edna Munson Lacey. He was born at the 
old homestead in the town of Easton, April 6, 1818. His education was in part acquired in his native 
place, attendance at school being alternated with farm work after the manner of so many of our New 
England youth in the earlier days. At a later period he was a pupil at Eli (Gilbert's select school in 
Redding, and from there he went to the Easton Academy. This latter institution was famous in those 
days. Before he had attained the age of si.xteen he had become a school teacher in his native town. 
In April, 1836, Mr. Lacey, at the age of eighteen, moved to Bridgeport, at that time merely a borough 
of some 3,000 inhabitants. With its progress from then up to the present year he was thoroughly 
familiar. His acciuaintance with the history of Bridgeport was extended and minute, and his writings 
upon historical subjects, largely of a biographical nature, form an important part of the data of the 
city's history. After his arrival in Bridgeport Mr. Lacey became assistant postmaster, a position which 
he held for a period of almost four years. When the Housatonic road was opened in 1839, he secured 
the responsible position of agent here, and had an active concern in handling the large amount of 
freight sent over the line in the following five years. In 1844 he resigned, accepting the position of 
bookkeeper in the saddle factory of Harrall & Calhoun, and was shortlj- appointed its assistant 
manager. In 1853 he became a member of the company and continued through the changes in the 
firm which followed until it was obliged to go out of business during the war. During the ten years, 
from 1840 to 1850, Mr. Lacey was actively in service as a member of the volunteer fire department. 
Successively he performed the duties of call-man, foreman of Company No. i, and assistant chief 
engineer. In 1848 he drew a by-law organizing the department in better shape. This was adopted 
and continued in force until the paid department was inaugurated in 1870. 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDCjEPORT. 



At an earl_v period !Mr. Lacey took an active interest in politics. In 1S48, 1S52, 1853 and iS64he 
was a member of the Common Council. In the year 1870 a trip to other cities to investigate the manner 
of conducting their financial affairs was taken, and resulted in Mr. Lacey, in conjunction with the late 
Francis Ives, drawing up the plan which has since been followed. In 187 1 he was chosen city auditor 
for a period of three years, and at the close of his term he was re-elected, holding the position con- 
tinuously tmtil 18S3. During this time he served as clerk of many different commissions, among them 
those having charge of roads, bridges, streets, sewers and parks. He also frequently served upon 
committees to appraise benefits and damages from public improvements. In 1873 Mr. Lacey originated 
the compilation and publication of the Municipal Register, which has ever since been issued regularly 
every year. In 1876 he was put in charge of the sinking fund, of which he had the management almost 
continuously from that time until his death. In addition to this he had charge of many large estates, 

and his conservative methods and keeH 
judgment did good service to those de- 
pendent upon him. In earlier years he 
also took an active interest in school mat- 
ters, and was largely instrumental in bring- 
ing about the agitation resulting in so 
great an improvement of the school sys- 
tem. Mr. Lacey was for many years 
Secretary of the Board of Trade, in which 
position he worked faithfully. At the 
time of his death he was President of the 
local society Sons of the American Revo- 
lution, and was for several years on the 
Board of Managers of the State organiza- 
tion. He was also Treasurer of the latter. 
It was soon after coming to Bridgeport 
that Mr. Lacey was connected with the 
First Congregational Church. From that 
time until his death he was one of its best 
known member.s. Active in every depart- 
ment of its work, he held the different 
positions in the Society and Sunday school, 
and in 1850 was chosen Deacon. This 
office he filled until his death. Mr. Lacey's 
interest in historical work and his patient 
industry, made him a valuable member 
and officer of the Fairfield County His- 
torical Society, of which he was President 
from its inception. For thirty years he 
contributed historical and biographical 
articles to the columns of the daily press. 
Mr. Lacey was thus active in all things 
,, „ „, tendins: to the upbuilding and mainte- 

James H. McElroy. " r- o 

nance of the good name of Bridgeport and 
the furthering of its prosperity. His memory will be preserved to admire and emulate. 





*E 






1 


ti^' 




if- 



JAMES H. McELROY. — That unremitting toil, coupled with ability and a pleasing personality 
sometimes earns a fitting reward, is exemplified by the life of James H. McElroy, at present Collector 
of the City of Bridgeport, who in April last, received a vote larger than ever before cast for a Republi- 
can in the municipal election. The handsome majority by which he triumphed over his opponent, 
carrying every district in the city, was a most elocjuent tribute to his popularity, and was all the more 
deserved, because comparatively unsought. 

Mr. McElroy was born in the city of XewYork, on September 22, 1854, but has been a resident 
of Bridgeport for nearly all his life, his parents removing here when he was less than two years of age. 



THE "SrAXDARirS" HISTORY OF BRHHUU'ORT. 



143 



Since then he has been known as boy and man to b)- far the larger portion of the city's residents, and 
has enjoyed the esteem and confidence of all with whom he has been thrown in contact. 

As a lad he attended the public shools, but leaving them at an early age, secured a position by 
means of which he ultimately rose to his present station in the commercial world of the city. After 
serving a year and a half as an apprentice in the office of the Standard, he connected himself with the 
old firm of Crane & Hurd, to the business of which John Hurd succeeded. 

There he remained for eleven years, rising to the position of Chief Bookkeeper, and in 1881, with 
his brother John and Hicks Griffin, formed the firm of Griffin & ^IcElroy. The concern established a 
large and prosperous wholesale meat and provision business, and in 1890 j\Ir. Griffin withdrew, the 
firm then becoming McElroy Brothers, with Harry A. McElroy as an added partner. It is now 
recognized as one of the most progressive 
in the state, and being general agents for 
the goods of the Cudahy Packing Com- 
pany, of South Omaha, Neb. 

In 1889 Mr. !McElroy was appointed 
to the Board of Charities by Mayor Robert 
E. DeForcst, and later reappointed by 
Mayor W. H. Marigold and Mayor W. B. 
Bostwick. In 1896 he was elected Presi- 
dent of the Board, in which position he 
served with the same zeal and fidelity as 
had characterized his previous work in 
connection with the discharge of the tasks 
of this Board, w^hich deals with so many 
delicate problems requiring the exercise 
of more than ordinary tact and discre- 
tion. In the spring of the present year. 
he was unanimously nominated for the 
position of Collector, upon the Republi- 
can ticket, and triumphantly elected, soon 
afterward retiring from the Board of 
Charities, much to the regret of all his 
colleagues. 

LEVI \V. 1-:AT0.\, manufacturer, is 
one of the old residents of Bridgeport, 
having came to this city from Springfield, 
Mass., the city of his birth, forty -one years 
ago. For thirty-four years he was a con- 
tractor with the Wheeler & Wilson Com- 
pany, and has been with the Bridgeport 
Electric Company since 1891. He was also 
a Trustee of the old Bridgeport Savings '-''^'' ^^'- i^'"""- 

Society. He is a member of the Sea- 
side Club, and has been a member of the South Congregational Church since i860. In politics he 
has always followed the fortunes of the Republican Party. ;\Ir. Eaton has been twice married, first, 
January 12, 1872, to Miss Ellen Doten, and second to Miss Mary L. Hawley, on January 10, 1888. He 
has no children living. 




FREDERICK JOEL LOCKWOOD.— During his whole life the subject of this biography was a 
resident of Bridgeport, being born October 13, 1850, and dying August 6, 1896. With a public school 
and business college education, he entered the Bridgeport Savings Bank and remained with it for the 
long period of twenty-one years, later engaging in the banking and brokerage business on his own 
account. This he relinquished after carrying it on a year or two, private affairs taking the greater 



144 THE " STAXDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

portion of his time. Mr. Lockwood married Miss Elizabeth Chapelle Wordin, daughter of Thomas 
Cook Wordin, Jr., February 14, 1884. In boyhood he attended the First Presbyterian Church, but 
during his later life the First Congregational. He was a Republican in politics. 



EDMUXD \'INCEXT HAWES was very prominent in Bridgeport business circles from the 
time of his arrival in the Park City, April 27, 1864, until his demise, March 14, 1S88. 

E. Y. Havves was born in the town of Sherman, Conn., in 1824, and after being educated in the 
Academy of his native town, commenced life as an instructor of the young. Being of an active dis- 
position, the profession of pedagogy seemed to pall upon him, and he then engaged in the pursuit of 
agriculture. Arriving in Bridgeport in the 3'ear above-mentioned, Mr. Hawes became associated with 

?^Iinot S. Giddings in the wholesale to- 
bacco and grocery business ; taking a great 
interest at the same time in real estate. In 
the early seventies the rapid growth of 
the city opened up a great field for the 
shrewd manipulator of realty, and ]Mr. 
Hawes (sacrificing his interest in the 
grocery and tobacco business) then em- 
barked wholly in the sale and rental of city 
property. Hawes Opera House on Fair- 
field avenue stands as a memorial to the 
enterprise of the subject of our sketch, and 
as a temple of amusement ranked, (at the 
time it was dedicated), with the best in the 
country. 

The Board of Trade in this city owes its 
nrigin to this gentleman, to which body all 
of Bridgeport's growth since that time is 
due. Mr. Hawes was a Democrat from a 
Jeffersonian standpoint, and a beloved 
member of the Xorth Congregational 
Church. Miss Mary E. Green, of New Mil- 
ford, was espoused by him in 1846; passing 
from this life in the year 1853; lea-ving 
three children (Chas. vS., Sarah E. and 
Mary E.) In 1855 he took unto him a 
second wife, in the person of Hulda Marsh, 
of New Milford; three children being the 
result of this marriage, (Ella C, Cora A. 
and Arabella E.) 

GEORGE RICHARDSON, Superin- 
Kduard v. Hawes. tcndcnt of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Co., 

is the only son of the late Joseph Richard- 
and was born in Brooklyn, X. Y., March 5, 1S47. He received his education 
at an early age became connected with the Bridgeport Hydraulic Co., after 
which he spent his summers in this city until 1869, when he was made Superintendent of the 
Company, a position which he has held ever since. Yery few men in business in Bridgeport 
to-day are more widely known than Mr. Richardson, and his thorough knowledge of the plant of the 
Hydrauhc Company, having "grown up with it," as it were, his skill in handling men and his energy 
and industry have been of great advantage to the company. He has also a marked inventive faculty, 
and several of his patented inventions are quite valuable and in extensive use. 

Mr. Richardson married Mi-ss Rose Huge of this city, in 1869, and they have one child, a daughter. 
They live in a pleasant home near Seaside Park, one of the most attractive portions of the city. Mr. 




son, of New York 
in that citv, and 




George Richardson. 




Frederick Joel Loekwood iDec'd). 



THE ••STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 145 

Richardson has always had a liking for clubs and fraternal organizations, and belongs to many. He is 
a thirty-second degree Mason, and has been officially prominent in Corinthian Lodge, F. and A. M. ; 
Pyramid Temple of vShriners; Hamilton Commandery, Knights Templars; and the order of the Eastern 
Star. He is a member of Mythra Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Pequonnock Lodge of Odd Fellows, 
and Stratfield Encampment, of the Bridgeport Scientific and Historical Societies, and is an agent of 
the Connecticut Humane Society for this city. 

He was one of the members of the old Eclectic Club, the first successful social club in the city, 
organized in 1870, and has been for several years a member of the Seaside Club; also of the Algon- 
quin Club and the Park City Yacht Club. At the recent session of the Legislature, Mr. Richardson 
was appointed one of the Trustees for four years, of the Connecticut Industrial School for boys. Mr. 
Richardson is a member of the vestry of Christ Episcopal Church, and a liberal supporter of the church. 
He is a Republican in politics, and his circle of friends is practically limitless. 

SAMUEL RUSSELL WILMOT.— The subject of this sketch, who died February 4, 1897, in his 
sixty-eighth year, was for many years one of Bridgeport's representative men. 

Mr. Wilmot was born in London, England, on June 28, 1829. He came from good old English 
stock, and was closely allied to the English nobilitj", being a lineal descendent of Sir John Eardly 
Wilmot. His grandfather, Samuel Wilmot, was a surgeon in the British Army, and came to America 
during the Revolutionary War, being taken prisoner at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Before an 
exchange was effected he met General Washington, and became his ardent admirer. 

Mr. Wilmot's father was also a physician and surgeon. He came to America in 1837, bringing 
his family, four sons, one of whom was drowned during the voyage, and one daughter, Eliza Eardly 
Wilmot, who is now the sole survivor of Dr. Wilmot's immediate family, and who is a resident of 
this city. 

The sudden death of Dr. Wilmot precipitated a crisis in the affairs of his young family, which 
was forced to commence a struggle for existence; to that fact may be traced in a large degree, the 
development of those sterling qualities which subsequently formed the general characteristics of the 
subject of this sketch, and made him the mainstay of his family and the strong mental and physical 
man he became in after years. Mr. Samuel R. Wilmot was by nature a vigorous, manly, self-reliant 
character to a degree that few men possess, and which eminently fitted him for the exciting 
experiences of an unusuall)^ active American business life. He was energetic and exacting in 
business, but generous in all his transactions, especially to those in his employ who could, from first 
to last, have been counted by thousands. 

Mr. Wilmot's trend of mind was essentially mechanical and inventive. During his life he 
obtained about one hundred patents for his inventions from the United States Government, many of 
which were patented in England and other foreign countries. 

His first conspicuous invention was a portable steam sawing machine for felling forest trees and 
sawingthem into lumber in an incredibly short space of time. The machines were easily moved from 
one location to another. At the outset they were manufactured by Fairbanks & Co. , of Brooklyn, N. Y. , 
of which concern Mr. Wilmot was a member, having surrendered his patents for the transfer of their 
estimated value in the capital stock of the company. Later on disaster came to the company, and 
the entire thing, with the patents, passed into the hands of parties in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. 
Wilmot thereby meeting with a crushing reverse in his early business career. This experience came 
in 1856, but had little effect upon his indomitable luill — his vocabulary contained no such words as 
ultimate failure, and obstacles always aroused determined and persistent effort that was able to "make 
a thing, and make the thing to make it." His inventive genius was never at rest. A prominent 
business at this time was the manufacture of hoop skirts out of whalebone — the material soon became 
too scarce to meet the requirements of the business, and Mr. Wilmot conceived the idea of 
substituting steel spring metal for whalebone, which proved so successful that he derived a large and 
profitable income from it, the result of which gave him the financial basis for the more extensive 
business enterprises that followed. It was in 1859 that he started a brass business in Brooklyn, soon 
after taking with him a younger brother. Daniel W. Kissam, afterward one of Bridgeport's solid 
citizens, became his bookkeeper, and later on put a small amount of money into the venture, with the 
privilege of withdrawing it in a year if he so desired. But the prosperity of the business warranted a 



146 THE -'STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

larger plant, and in 1S65 the_v removed to this city and organized the Bridgeport Brass Company, the 
present extensive works of the company testifying to the success of that enterprise. All the plans 
for the new plant and the provision for its prospective possibilities were arranged for and drawn by 
Mr. Wilmot's own brain and hand. He was President of the Cornpany for many years, Mr. Kissani 
being »Secretary. After retirement from active connection with the Bridgeport Brass Company, Mr. 
Wilmot spent several years in experimenting with details for larger schemes, meanwhile patenting 
various small inventions that brought him many thousands of dollars. He concentrated his thoughts 
upon a new caloric engine with a system of tubing suggested by the intestinal principles of the 
human body, and while constructing a large model of it there came a necessity for steel of different 
quality than he could buy, and a need for tubing with a seam so perfect that it must be invisible. 
From this grew a large business and the postponement of his larger scheme. After six years of hard 
work and much expenditure of money, he had completed a cold rolling mill for steel, all the details 
being done under his personal supervision and according to original ideas of his own. In 1884 he 
organized the Wilmot & Hobbs Manufacturing Company, whose extensive works form one of the 
largest busmess plants in our city. The Cold Rolling Mills are situated on Hancock and Railroad 
avenues, and the Hot Rolling Mill on Howard avenue and the sound. On the night of February 4, 
1S95, the Cold Rolling Mills were burned to the ground. It was a catastrophe which would have 
disheartened any other than a man of irrepressible determination, such as Mr. Wilmot possessed, but 
he met the disaster with the spirit of a man that no misfortune could conquer. The magnitiLde of the 
disaster can be more fully realized when it is stated that Mr. Wilmot was in advanced years and 
declining health, and that it occurred in severe midwinter weather and in exceedingly depressed 
times for business. The fire destroyed machinery, and the patterns and drawings therefor that had 
been the work of years to accumulate. Notwithstanding all these facts, steps were immediately taken to 
rebuild the ruined works, with the result that in three to four months after the fire, a substantial fireproof 
structure had arisen in the place of the old, with greatly increased facilities for handling the extensive 
business. At the time of Mr. Wilmot's death he had in development several mechanical ideas which 
were designed to add to the already completely appointed plant, the perfecting of which devolves 
upon his son, F. H. Wilmot, who is his successor as President of the Wilmot & Hobbs Manufacturing 
Company. 

Mr. Wilmot was happily married in 1855 to Sarah M. Guernsey, of Watertown, Conn., who 
came of an old family whose ancestors settled in Connecticut in 1663. (jf the children burn to ilr. 
and Mrs. Wilmot, three are living, and reside in this city — Florence Eardly, wife of W. F. Hobbs, of 
Clinton avenue; Frank A., also resident of Clinton avenue, and Ethelyn M., wife of Percy L. 
Bryning, residing on Poplar street. Mr. Wilmot's wife survives him, and lives at No. 105 Stratford 
avenue. 

For many years Mr. Wilmot was a member of the First Congregational Church of this cit}', being 
one of its Deacons for twelve years. Some time ago he recognized the need of religious privileges in 
the neighborhood where he resided, and pvirchased a property on East Main street, near Stratford 
avenue, on which he erected a church building and parsonage. A society was formed called the 
Berean Church, which has steadily grown, and has been a blessing to many people. The ownership 
of the buildings is now in the hands of Mrs. Wilmot. 

Mr. Wilmot was the first President of the Christian Alliance, of which Rev. A. B. Simpson, of New 
York City, is the moving spirit, and to this cause Mr. Wilmot gave liberal financial aid. His private 
charities were numerous, and the substantial aid he was wont to give to young inventors by his quick 
insight into the value or uselessness of their inventions brought men from far and near to ask for his 
coimsel. 

In politics Mr. Wilmot was a staunch Republican, but was too absorbed in business to seek either 
social or political preferment, but by his death Bridgeport lost an esteemed representative citizen, the 
poor a reliable friend, and religion a worthy advocate and devoted worker. 

THOMAS PORTER TAYLOR was born in Philadelphia in 1857. His father was a Presbyterian 
clergyman. Through his mother he is a descendent of General Andrew Porter, a distinguished officer 
of the War of the Revolution. 

He received his education in schools of Philadelphia and Brooklyn, graduating from Packard's 



THE "SrAXDARI/S" HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. 



Business College in New York in 1875. After working as a clerk in New York for two 3-ears, he 
came to Bridgeport in 1877 as bookkeeper in one of our local corset factories. Mr. Tavlor's 
experience in Bridgeport shows what can be accomplished by a young man of ambition, brains and 
pluck. He began early to invent and patent many useful articles in the line of corsets and other 
similar goods, and perfected machinery for making them. He has taken out nearly 100 patents, 
many of which have been successful. His invention of the Taylor Folding Bustle, ten years ago, 
gave him also a national reputation. Five j^ears ago he started in business for himself, making dress 
steels, hose-supporters, bustles, and many other staple notions for women's wear. The business has 
grown steadily, until now he is the recognized leader in his line. At his factory on Harrall avenue 
more than 400 men and women are steadily employed. He is a shrewd advertiser. Besides attending 
closely to the details of manufacturing, he 
visits all of the large western and southern 
cities at least twice a year, and thus meets 
personally the largest buyers of his goods. 

Personally, Mr. Taylor is genial, frank 
and outspoken. He is president of the 
Algonquin Club, a member of the Seaside 
and Country Clubs, Board of Trade, St. 
John's Lodge F. and A. M., Hamilton Com- 
mandery, K. T., Lafayette Consistory 
32d degree, Pequonnock Lodge I. O. O. P., 
Sons of the Revolution, and other so- 
cieties. 

Politically he has always been a Re- 
publican, and stands high in the councils 
of that party. For many years he has 
been a member of the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Republican Club. A mem- 
ber of the Common Council in 1882-83, 
and again in 1892-93. He is a forceful 
speaker and ready at debate. In 1893, 
as a member of the Railroad Committee, 
he led the minority and succeeded in 
defeating the plan of the N. Y., N. H. & 
H. R. R. Co., to depress their tracks west 
of Park avenue. 

In 1895 he was appointed a member of 
the Board of Police Commissioners, and 
served there faithfully and well till the 
spring of the present year. It was then that 
he was elevated to the position of honor 
and responsibility, which he now holds. 

For many weeks prior to the holding 
of the Republican Convention, it was the 

prevailing sentiment in the party that no stronger man could be named for the Mayoralty than Mr. 
Taylor. While a staimch Republican he had won many friends outside the ranks of his own party 
and enjoyed the respect of all who admired political integrity and independence. 

Accordingly, when the proper time arrived, he was unanimously placed in nomination, and after 
a vigorous campaign was elected by 1,192 in the face of a normal Democratic majority of 1,200. 

Mayor Taylor entered upon his term with a firm determination to make his administration one of 
which he might be proud at its close. As was only natural he encountered obstacles, but these he is 
one by one overcoming, and with his determination is certain to perform a work that will long be 
remembered. 

One of the watchwords of iiis campaign was good roads, and since his election he has persistently 




148 



THE ■■STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



and consistently fought for them. Incidently he has compelled the Board of Public Works to discharge 
its duties in a more prompt and efficient manner than has been the case in some time previous. It is 
his aim to give the city a business man's administration, and in the accomplishment of this purpose he 
is leaving no line of action and progress imoccupied. 

ZALM(5N GOODSELL. — It is eminently fitting that so active a man as President Zalmon Good- 
sell, of the Bridgeport Board of Trade, should be sprung from an old English family, which for many 
generations has been active and prominent in affairs both civic and military. 

In the thirteenth century John Curtis, gentleman, was a resident of Matestack, County of Warwick, 
England, and from him is the descent of the Goodsell family of this city traced. Pilgrim John Curtis, 
who was his descendent, sailed from London on September i6, 1632, in the .ship " Lion," arriving 
later in New England. From him was descended Epaphras Goodsell, who was one of the soldiers of 
the nation in the War of the Revolution. He was born in 1742 and was descended on his mother's side 

from Governor Thomas Wells, one of the leading 
men of the Hartford Colony. He enlisted in May, 
1776, in Captain Dimon's Company of Fairfield, 
being promoted to Sergeant. In this company 
were also his three brothers. 

Sergeant Goodsell re-enlisted January i, 1777, 
with Capt. John Mills' Company in the second 
regiment, Connecticut line, commanded by Col. 
Chailes Webb. This regiment was present at the 
battle of Monmouth, where he earned the com- 
mendation of his officers. This regiment also win- 
tered at Valley Forge with Washington's troops, 
and experienced all the sufferings and hardships 
of that terrible winter. Epaphras was the son of 
the Rev. John Goodsell, who graduated from Yale 
College in 1724. 

The Rev. John Goodsell was the youngest 
son of Thomas Goodsell, first of the name in this 
country. John was born in East Haven, a parish 
of New Haven, December 21, 1706. His mother, 
vSarah Hemingway, was an elder sister of Jacob 
Hemingway, graduated from Yale 1704, the earliest 
student of the college, and the earliest minister of 
East Haven. He, John Goodsell, was ordained 
May 18, 1726, pastor of the church, in the north- 
west parish of Fairfield, Conn., later known as 
Greenfield. He continued here for thirty years 
be . and died December 26, 1763. He married, July 20, 

1725, Mary, daughter of Captain James Lewis, of 
Stratford, Conn., they had many children. Rev. John Goodsell organized the Greenfield Hill parish, 
and during the past year memorial windows to his memory have been donated and put in place in that 
church by one of his descendents. 

Zalmon Goodsell, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a son of Epaphras Goodsell, and 
his son was Epaphras B. Goodsell. The latter was for eight years (1853-61) Postmaster of Bridge- 
port, and served as Mayor in 1871-72-73. 

Epaphras B. Goodsell removed to this city soon after the birth of Zalmon, which took place at 
South Kent, March 19, 1845. His wife was a member of the Butts family of pioneers, descendents 
of the old Elliott family, who were among the earliest settlers of this country. To her careful train- 
ing is to be ascribed much of the success which has since attended Zalmon's efforts in life. He was 
named after his grandfather, being his favorite grandchild, and spent many years of his boyhood at 
his father's old Brookfield home. Zalmon's first schooling was at Brookfield, the home of his grand- 




THE "STAXDARVS" HISTOKV OF BRIDGEPORT. 149 

father, where he attended the little red district school. Afterward he returned to Bridg-eport and 
went to the high school, Islv. E. F. Strong, principal, and finished his education at the school of the 
Rev. Mr. Noble, at Brookfield. His father's desire was that he should study for the ministry, but 
Zalmon had an inclination for business life, and, when his studies were completed, he returned to 
Bridgeport and entered the grocery store of Andrew Nash, as a clerk. Next he took charge of the 
news stand at the railroad station, and while there he served with papers such men as the late Hon. 
Nathaniel Wheeler and Hon. William D. Bishop, both of whom befriended him in his early business 
career. 

Through Mr. Wheeler he became an assistant to Frederick Hurd at the factory of the Wheeler & 
Wilson Company, but he saw a business opening with the late Wheeler Beers, and entered into 
business with him, at the end of the year ptirchasing the business throtigh the assistance of Wm. D. 
Bishop. In later years the firm became Bradbury, Goodsell & Wilmot Company, and in 1875 Mr. 
Goodsell withdrew and engaged in business independently. He first located upon Fairfield avenue; 
from there he removed to Main street, and later to his present spacious quarters upon Water street. 
In addition to his regular business of steam heating and plumbing, he has built up a large fire insur- 
ance and real estate business, and has always been active in city matters. He has also been interested 
in a number of manufacturing concerns which have located in this city, and has made his way in the 
world by his individual industry and ability. 

Politically Mr. Goodsell has always been an ardent Democrat, and was appointed by Mayor 
R. E. DeForest, a member of the Board of Public Works, where he served for four years. Five years 
ago he was unanimously nominated for Mayor b}' his party, but, with all others upon the ticket, 
suffered defeat, and in 1894 ran for Senator, though defeated in common with all his colleagues. It 
was in the same year that his name was prominently mentioned throughout the state as a candidate 
for Governor, and was greeted with much praise, eliciting favorable comment from the press every- 
where. Last fall, with many other good Democrats, he became a member of the National Democratic 
Party, being one of the delegates from Connecticut to the Indianapolis convention. 

If Mr. Goodsell possesses any hobby it is the Bridgeport Board of Trade, with which he has l)een 
connected ever since its organization. He has been one of its most active members, serving upon all 
the important committees, being a continuotis member of the Executive Committee, and in 1893 was 
chosen President and refused a re-election, but in January of the present ^-ear he was again elected to 
that office. During his administration the life of the Board has been characterized by unusual activity 
and he has done much to make it a thoroughly progressive and up-to-date body. He has also been a 
member of the State Board, being Chairman of the Legislative committee on good roads, and several 
times appeared before the committee of the Legislature to advocate matters in which the Board was 
interested, and more particularly the improvement of public highways. He also represented the 
Board at the recent Pan-Anglican conference and opening of the Philadelphia museums. 

It was in connection with the Board of Trade's annual banquet that he first won his laurels as a 
toastmaster, and since then he has added greatly to them. He has presided at banquets of the Sons 
of American Revolution, the Royal Arcanum, the United Workmen, and many other organizations. 
At presentations and flag raisings he has been a prominent figure, and many times has been called 
upon to participate in the awarding of school prizes, or to give cogent words of advice to the pupils in 
the public schools. At the Newtown celebration on July 4, 1895, he was one of the leading 
participants. 

As a representative of the Board of Trade he has visited conventions, both state and national, 
spoken at Fall River, Hartford, New Haven, and addressed the members of the ]\Ieriden Board of 
Trade by invitation, upon the subject of "Boards of Trade, their uses, and how to conduct them." 

In the progress of Bridgeport, he has ever been interested and did herculean work in carrying to 
success the Centennial and Columbus celebrations, the latter of which netted a fund of about $2,500 
for the Board of Trade. 

To him does the Builders' Exchange owe a debt of gratitude for its present prosperous condition. 
When he was elected its President the Exchange contained but ten members, and during his term of 
office he increased the membership roll to over eighty, including every branch of the builders' trades 
in the city, and represented the association as delegate to the National Association of Master Builders 
held at Baltimore. 



15° 



THE -STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDOEI'ORT. 



Mr. Guoclsell is a member of Corinthian Lodge, F. and A. M., and at present Captain-General of 
Hamilton Conimandery, Knights Templars. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and a member of the 
Connecticut Masonic Veterans' Association and Pyramid Temple. He is also a member of Peciuonnock 
Lodge, L O. O. F. ; Queriheag Tribe, L O. R. M. ; Nebo Senate, K. A. E. O. ; Farren Lodge, A. O. U. W. ; 
Seaside Council, R. A. ; Bridgeport Conclave, Improved Order of Heptasophs, Pioneer Camp, Wood- 
men of the World and Court Marina, Foresters of America. He is also a charter member of the 
Seaside Club, a member of the Algonquin Outing and Country Clubs, the Bridgeport and Park City 
Yacht Clubs, as well as a member of Camp Riga. As President of the Bridgeport Athletic Club he 
served well and faithfully. His year as President of the Master Plumbers' Association marked one of 
the most prosperous years of its existence. He was one of the first to help organize the State Associa- 
tion of Master Plumbers, calling the first meeting in Bridgeport. He was also a delegate to the 
national associations at Boston and Milwaukee, and was placed upon the legislative committee of both 
national and state associations. 

In the Sons of the American Revolution he is 
also a valued and earnest worker. He joined the 
state association a number of years ago, and in 
1893 was a delegate tu the national convention at 
Chicago. In 1894 he was elected to the State 
Board of Managers, of which he has ever since 
been an active member. He helped to organize 
the Gen Gold Selleck Silliman branch, and served 
as toastmaster at the state banquet given in this 
city, to which he secured the presence of Gen. 
Horace Porter and many other prominent speakers, 
and he is at present President of the General Gold 
Selleck Silliman branch. 

jNIany times have his services been called into 
play by various societies, and never has he failed 
to respond. I>efi>re the Masonic Lodge of Dan- 
bury he delivered a masonic lecture on the origin 
of masonr}', under the auspices of the grandmas- 
ter of the state, and before the local Y. M. C. A. 
he gave a highly interesting talk on "Every Day 
Topics," which was extensively ciuoted. He is an 
ardent admirer of the Boys' Club and presented 
to the fund for a home ,$2,400 of the Bridgeport 
Traction Company's stock. 

The labor unions of the city selected Mr. 
Goodsell to preside at one of their mass meetings, 
!■ iii.ii,i \\ Mniih. and on numerous occasions he has acted as chair- 

man of large political gatherings. On the occasion 
of the distribution of Christmas gifts to the poor of the city at the Opera House through the enterprise 
of the newspapers and the charitable citizens of Bridgeport, Mr. Goodsell was chosen as presiding 
genius of that memorable occasion. He is also an active member of both the Scientific and Historical 
Societies. 

Mr. Goodsell is a trustee of the Connecticut Co-operative Savings Society and Vice-President of 
the branch in this city. 

In brief he has been one of the few men who could be depended upon to do all in his power to aid 
every enterprise for the city's benefit, and has given lavishly of both time and money, and has been 
urged to accept office in many societies, which he has been obliged to decline from want of time to 
give the attention needed, as he is very active in every position he has accepted, and was never looked 
upon as a figure head. 

Though his public and society duties make great inroads upon his time, he manages to thoroughly 
enjoy the healthful environment of his pleasant home on North avenue, where he has lived for many 




THE 



STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF ItRHtGEPORT. 



years, having been married in i86S to ^liss Caroline Fox, a member of one of the oldest families of 
the city. To Mr. and Mrs. Goodsell have been born three children — Zalmon, who died in infancy; 
Eliza Jane and ^lary Caroline, both of whom are among the most popular of the many yoimg society 
people of the city. 

FRIEND WILLIAM SMITH, who is one of the representative men of Bridgeport, was born in 
Cortright, X. Y., ^lay ii, 1829, and after an education received in the public schools and the Amenia 
Seminary, Dutchess County, N. Y., came to Bridgeport, which was in 1849. Mr. Smith entered the 
dry goods business on his arrival in Bridgeport as a clerk for E. Birdseye, and served imder this 
firm until 1861, when he was elected, by popular vote. Postmaster, continuing in that position until 
1869. In 1874 he became a manufacturer, 
and secured the contract for considerable 
Government work. 

The Smith & Egge Company, of 
which he is the President, has been very 
successful since its inception, and has 
contributed its share to the development 
of the city's manufacturing industries. 
Mr. Smith is a member of St. John's 
Lodge F. and A. M., the .Seaside Club, 
and many others. He represented Fair- 
field County in the Republican State 
Committee for several years, and it was 
during his tenure of the office of Post- 
master that the new postoffice was erected. 
Angelina Amelia Weed became his life- 
partner, February 23, 1853, by whom he 
has four children. 

HENRY LEE, the .subject of this 
sketch, is well and favorably known 
throughout the state. He is rm ardent 
Republican, and has been wide!}' identi- 
fied with the party's interest since his 
location in Bridgeport. He spent his boy- 
hood dayj at Coventry, Conn., having been 
born in that town on March 24, 1848. 
When but a boy he entered the employ of the 
Union Metallic Cartridge Company, then 
located in that town, and while there became 
thoroughly acquainted with the handling 
of deadly explosives. In November, 1868, 
soon after the Cartridge Company removed iie^rv i.ee. 

their plant to this city, Mr. Lee came 

here and assumed charge of the priming department. He continued in this capacity until 1881, when 
he launched into the grocery business with the late George M. Robertson as his partner. The 
co-partnership existed only a year, and then the firm of Lee & Ketcham was formed, with Charles J. 
Ketcham as junior partner. This firm conducted a prosperous business until June, 1895, when Mr. 
Lee retired. On August i, 1895, Mr. Lee assumed the duties of a County Commissioner for Fairfield 
County, having been ajjpointed by the General Assembly of that year. He was elected Secretary and 
Treasurer of the Board, and at the present time holds that position. As a Commissioner he has 
displayed the same tact and business ingenuity which made him a successful business man, and has 
done much in advancing the interests of the commonwealth. 

During his residence in I^ridgeport, Mr. Lee has been recognized both by election and appoint- 




152 



THE " STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



ment to numerous political offices, and has proved a faithful and able official. He was first elected 
Registrar of the old sixth ward in 1881, and was re-elected in the following year. In 1885 he was 
elected a member of the Board of Selectmen and served with Emor}' F. Strong and John C. Shelton. 
He continued in office during the following year. He represented the third ward in the Board of 
Aldermen in 1887 and 1888. The next year he was selected as the candidate of the Republican Party 
for the position of Mayor, but was defeated by ex-Congressman Robert E. DeForest. During the 
last term of Mayor Marigold, he was appointed a Fire Commissioner and served fifteen months and 
resigned. His next public office was that of County Commissioner, which he now holds. He was 
appointed August i, 1895, for four years. 

Mr. Lee is widely known throughout the state as an authority on Connecticut history, and has 

one of the largest collections of books pub- 
lished in the state and relating to its history 
known in this section. He is a member of 
a number of secret and social organizations, 
among them being St. John's Lodge F. and 
A. M. and Jerusalem Chapter, the Samuel 
H. Harris Lodge No. 99, I. O. O. F., the 
Ancient Order of Ecsenics, Seaside Court 
of Foresters, the Seaside Club, the Bridge- 
port and Connecticut Historical Societies, 
and several others. He is Director in the 
Lee Bros. Furniture Company, a large and 
successful business enterprise. 

GEORGE E. SOMERS.— It is worth 
recording that in our Representative in the 
Legislature from Bridgeport, we have an 
example of what a man with courage, 
determination and brains can accomplish. 
George E. Somers was born in Newtown, 
Conn., Januar)' 21, 1833, and after receiving 
his education in the public schools of that 
town, was apprenticed to a mechanic. At 
the age of nineteen he commenced his 
career as a skilled mechanic at Naugatiick, 
and after devoting two years at his trade 
there, moved to Waterbury. Wallace & 
vSons, of Ansonia, then engaged his services, 
but a better offer from Providence, R. I., 
caused him to settle there, being employed 
by the Gorham Manufacturing Co., the 
world-renowned silversmiths. While with 
George E. sumers. this Company he was employed in making 

tools for manufacturing silversmiths, w'hich 
required the utmost skill, but the war breaking out he returned to Ansonia, engaging himself in 
the manufacture of cartridge shells with his former employers at that place. About the close of the 
war Mr. Somers returned to Waterbury as head of one of the departments of the Benedict & Burnham 
Company. 

While in the employ of this concern he went to Europe, and on his return introduced the 
manufacture of seamless brass and copper tubing in this part of the country, which has grown to be a 
great feature in manufactures in that line. 

While in Waterbury Mr. Somers served the city for several years as Fire Commissioner, his 
efficiency in that office being unquestioned. In 1881 Mr. Somers came to Bridgeport as vSuperintendent 
and Director of the Bridgeport Brass Company, and during his residence here the many patents 




THE "STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



153 



granted him lias no doubt greatly assisted that company in creating the wonderful plant and business 
that is credited to them. 

:Mr. Somers is a thorough Republican, and although not desirous of public office, he was 
nominated for the Legislature and elected by a sweeping majority. Previous to this he was appointed 
to the Board of Public Works, vice Edward R. Ives resigned, by Mayor Marigold, continuing under 
Mayors Bostwick and Clark. Mr. Somers is a thirty-second degree Mason, and has served in most of 
the offices of the Blue Lodge and Commandery. He married, November, 1858, Sarah J. Noble, 
daughter of David Noble, of Southbury, Conn., who died August, 1864. His second wife was 
Fannie E. French, daughter of Miles French, of Bethany, Conn., to whom he was wedded, 1865. 

Mr. Somers is essentially a self-made man, working his way from the bench to the position of 
Vice-President and Superintendent of the vast works of the Bridgeport Brass Company, and his record 
will prove that a young man with the true grit can secure by integrity and honest hard work the 
competency that awaits him. 



COLONEL JLVLIUS W. KNOWLTON.— The subject of this biography has been prominently 
identified in the councils of the Republican Party in Connecticut during a considerable portion of his 
life. During four Presidential administrations he held the 
important office of Postmaster of Bridgeport; he has served two 
terms in the state Legislature representing Stratford, has been 
a member of the State Central Committee, and was on 
the staff of Governor Marshall Jewell, with the rank of 
Colonel. 

Julius W. Knowlton was born in Southbridge, Mass., Novem- 
ber 28, 1838, the son of William S. Knowlton, and traces his 
American ancestry to Thomas Knowlton, who emigrated from 
England in 1632. At the age of seven his parents moved to 
Norwich, and three years later to this city, where he received his 
education in the public and private schools. In i860 he engaged 
in business. When the war broke out Mr. Knowlton enlisted 
as a private in Company A, Fourteenth Connecticut Volunteers, 
and upon the organization of the regiment was made its Com- 
missary Sergeant. 

Promoted to the second Lieutenancy of Company C, he was 
in command of it at the battle of Gcttj'sburg, and on the third 
day of that terrible encounter he was wounded. Remaining in 
the hospital on the field for eleven long daj's, he was then 
removed to Baltimore, and then to his home in Bridgeport. The 
following January found him again at the front, though on 

account of his wounds he was unable to perform exacting militarv duty, and in 1864 he received his 
discharge for physical disabilit}'. 

Colonel Knowlton was one of the three gentlemen who, in October, 1866, purchased the 
Bridgeport Standard, organizing as a joint stock company under the laws of Connecticut, Mr. 
Knowlton assuming the duties of Secretary, Treasurer and Business Manager. This position he 
resigned some seven years later to become Superintendent of the Moore Car Wheel Company, of 
Jersey City, N. J. A year later he took a Government position in the post office department at 
Washington, and later became Chief Clerk of the department, which was then under the control of 
Postmaster-General Marshall Jewell, of Hartford. This was during Grant's administration. In 1875 
Colonel Knowlton received the appointment of Postmaster at Bridgeport, and occupied that position 
imtil November, 1886. He was reappointed in May, 18S9, and served until December 31, 1893. 

In addition to his political affiliations. Colonel Knowlton has been actively identified with the 
social and fraternal life of Bridgeport. He is a prominent member of the Masonic Brotherhood, and 
has taken every degree to and including the thirty-third — the Scottish rite. He is a Grand Army 
man, a member of the Army and Navy Club, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and of the 
Seaside and Algonquin Clubs. He has also been Assistant Adjutant General G. A. R., a member of 




Colonel Julius W. Knowlton. 



154 



THE " STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRHJGEPORT. 



the National Council, and in iSSo was a delegate to the National Encampment. He is also a member 
of the First UniversaHst Society of Bridgeport. Colonel Knowlton married Miss Jennie E. Fairchild, 
of Newtown, Conn., December 17, 1866. They have had two children, both of whom are dead. 



CHARLES RANSOM BROTHWELL.— Very few of Bridgeport's citizens have watched her 
o-rowth and progress with greater interest than has Charles Ransom Brothwell, it being the home of 
his fathers, he has looked iipon her prosperity with great pride, and wilhngly devoted his time and 
attention to her advancement. Mr. Brothwell was born in 1833. The early part of his life was spent 
on his father's farm, the property now known as Brooklawn Park. At thirty-five years of age he 
became connected with the Hon. P. T. Barnum, and eventually became his real estate agent, which 

position he held at the time of the latter's 
death. His relations to Mr. Barnum were 
most valuable, as his knowledge of property 
and undivided interest speak for them- 
selves. Many of the big schemes of the 
real estate world originated with this faith- 
ful assistant; for instance, the reclaiming 
of that track of land adjoining Seaside 
Park, east of Cedar Creek, which added 
forty acres of taxable propert}' to the 
city. 

Mr. Brothwell was one of the original 
members of the Board of Public Works, 
which position he held for twelve years, his 
principal interest in connection with the 
Board being the building of the bridges, 
especially the Lower Bridge, which was 
the first in the United States to be operated 
by electricity — Mr. Brothwell's idea — not 
only was the electric motor introduced by 
him, but he provided a swinging stop latch, 
which made the use of electricity com- 
plete, for without that and the yielding 
abutment it would be impossible to open 
and close the draw as rapidly as at present. 
He also provided the swinging gates which 
are placed at either side of the bridge for 
the safety of the public. 

One of the features of the semi-cen- 
tennial celebration of Bridgeport in 1888 
was the great industrial parade, of which 
Mr. Brothwell had the honor of being 
ii.iiks K. i;iothweii. Grand Marshal. For several years previ- 

ous he was interested in the Board of 
Trade, and not only during the Presidency of the Board, 1891-92, but at all times has been 
instrumental in getting a large number of manufacturers to locate here. In politics Mr. Brothwell is 
a Republican, and has been honored with many offers of office by his party, but invariably declined^ 
except in 1892, when he was defeated for the Senatorship. 

WALTER B. BOSTWICK was born in New Milford in 1840, and lived there for many years, his 
business ventures in the manufacturing line having been made in that town, and carried by him to a 
very successful issue. In 1884 he came to Bridgeport and located at the west end, where he invested 
heavily in real estate, carried on manufacturing, and took a large part in promoting the subsequent 
rapid development of that portion of the city. He was a Democrat in politics, and was early urged 




THE "SrAXDARD'S HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



I5S 



to represent his section of the city in tlie Common Council, which lie did in both branches to the 
satisfaction of all, and where his work as a Legislator for the interests of the city was such as to 
secure him the friendship and support of a large constituency. In 1893 he was nominated for Mayor 
on the Democratic ticket, and was elected by a very considerable majority. He was the first 
Mayor under the new charter, making the term two years instead of one, as it had been since the 
establishment of the first city government. 

As Mayor, he was impartial and judicious, and by his prudent management much was 
accomplished during the two years of his incumbency for the improvement of the city and the benefit 
of its citizens. During his term the street car strike took place, which for a considerable time 
disorganized the street car service of the city, and entailed great inconvenience upon the public. 
Mayor Bostwick was active at this time, and took a prominent part in what was done to preserve the 
peace and settle the difficulty, which was finally brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Since his term 
as Mayor, Mr. Bostwick has given his time exclusively to his important personal interests, which are 
large and increasing, and demand his constant 
attention and supervision. 

TRACY BRONSON WARREN is a lineal 
descendent of Richard Warren, who came from 
Greenwich, England, on the Mayflower to 
Plymouth, Mass., in 1620, and died in the same 
town in 1628. Mr. Warren's ancestry runs back of 
the landing of the ^layflower in an unbroken line 
nearly six hundred years. The Warren family was 
well known in revolutionary times, and the an- 
cestors of our subject, though of Briti.sh parentage, 
fought hard for the independence of their adopted 
country. vSocially Col. Warren is very much re- 
spected as his membership in the Sons of the 
American Revolution, F. and A. M., all the local 
clubs, the Old Guard of the City of New York, and 
many business organizations would indicate. He 
has served two terms in the Board of Aldermen 
and one term as City Treasurer, which positions 
he has held to the credit of himself and the better- 
ment of the cit\'. 

His business attention is entirely devoted to 
the Atlantic Hotel, which for years has been a 
Mecca for a great many of the promient people of 
the United States. He married, in 1874, Clara 
A. Mills, of Boston, Mass., a descendent of revo- 
lutionary and colonial ancestors, who is at the 

present time Regent of the local Chapter D. A. R. Four children comprise Mr. Warren's family. 
Col. Warren, who has been very prominent in the Connecticut National Guard, came to Bridgeport in 
1876 and has resided here ever since. In politics he is a Republican, and a member of the Episcopal 
Church. 

REV. JOHN W. GILL.— One of our most prominent divines is the Rev. John W. Gill, who, 
although comparatively a stranger in Bridgeport, has. by his devotion to the needs of his parish and his 
charitable kindliness, succeeded in establishing himself in the hearts of his parishioners for all time. 
He was born in Brookljm, N. Y., March 24, 1S61, and after receiving his preliminary education in the 
public schools of that city entered Trinity School, completing his study at St. Stephen College. The 
public life of a minister of the Gospel is very little in evidence, in comparison to the inner life, where 
his days and years are one long sacrifice to his flock. St. Luke's vestry and congregation are to be 
congratulated on securing the Rev. Mr. (bill's service, and the writer trusts that he may long abide 




Walter B. Bostwick. 



IS6 



THE '• STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



with us. His election as Chaplain of the 4th Regiment, N. G., is regarded as a sure test of his personal 
popularity, also his membership in the Yacht Club, where he was unanimousl}' elected. 

WILLIAM F. BISHOP was born in Woodbmy, Conn., April 30. 1836. On February 16, 1872, he 
removed to Bridgeport, where he established himself in business at No. 65 State street. In February, 
1875, he associated himself with John CuUinan in the undertaking business, under the firm name of 
Bishop & Cullinan. The partnership was continued until October 16, 1882, since that time Mr. Bishop 
has continued the business alone. Mr. Bishop is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, he having been 
initiated in 1861 in Federal Lodge, No. 17, of Watertown, Conn. He is also a member of the A. A. 
Scottish Rite, S. P. R. S. , and of the vSovereign Consistory of Bridgeport, and a thirty-second degree 
Mason. Upon the morning of September 2, 1897, Mr. Bishop, who had been ill for some time from 
the effects of a paralytic stroke, passed away at his home on Warren Street, sincerely mourned by a 
large circle of friends. 



RUSSELL TOMLINSON WHITIXG upon whom, by common consent, there has been con- 
ferred the title of Bridgeport's leading grocer, is 
in every sense a true son of the Park City. Bom 
here upon Novembor 29, 1847, he is able to trace 
his descent without a break, back to the time of 
the Pilgrim Fathers. He is the son of Isaac 
H. Whiting, whose father, William Nathan Whit- 
ing, was in turn the son of a Revolutionary patriot. 
Col. Samuel Whiting. Col. Whiting was a resident 
of Stratford, and served under General Washing- 
ton, being in command of one of the Connecticut 
regiments. He was a descendentof William Brad- 
ford, one of the Mayflower company and governor 
of the Massachusetts Colony. With the exception 
of a few years spent in the City of New York, Mr. 
Whiting has always resided here, and through the 
exercise of more than ordinary business ability, 
attained to an honored position in the mercantile 
life of the city. His large establishment on j\Iain 
street is a model one, and within its walls is con- 
ducted a business which he has seen grow from 
humble beginnings to a most enviable volume. 

When a lad Mr. Whiting attended the common 

schools of the city, and from them passed to the 

private military school conducted so successfully 

by Emory F. Strong. After a term of two years in 

this institution he entered at once upon a business 

career, and without interruption has since been 

engaged in mercantile pursuits. 

Going to New York he entered the service of one of the big dry goods firms of that period, and for 

eleven years was ever to be found at his post. He was in turn connected with the hoiises of Halsted, 

Haines & Company, Hurd, Curran & Company, and Butler, Broome & Clapp, until late in 1874. He 

decided to return to his native city and embark in the grocery business. 

With this object in view he formed a partnership with Philo H. Prindle, the firm being known as 
Prindle & Whiting, and opened the store upon Main street, where he has ever since been located. Up 
to the following March Mr. Whiting remained in New York closing his term of service with his old 
employers and buying goods for the store in this city, but as soon as possible gave up all his metro- 
politan connections in order to devote his entire time to the store here. From then until now it has ever 
been his effort to keep his establishment in the front rank, and he enjoys a well earned and deserved 
reputation in the grocery trade, both wholesale and retail, of New England. Though always an 
ardent Republican, Mr. Whiting has never entered upon a public career. He has many times been 




Col. Tracy B. Wai 



THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF URHXJEI'ORT. 



157 



requested to serve up<.in the vai'ious boards and commissions of the city, but has consistently declined, 
preferring to remain an humble worker in the party ranks. For many years he has been a prominent 
member of Christ Episcopal Church, and has held the office of Vestryman, discharging the duties of 
that position with much benefit to the church society. He early joined the Masonic fraternity and in 
its work has always been an active and interested participant. He is at present a member of Corin- 
thian Lodge, F. and A. M., Jerusalem Chapter, R. A. M., Jerusalem Council R. & S. M., Hamilton 
Commanderv, No. 5, K. T. \'. Pyramid Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In addition he is a 
member of the Seaside Club, the Seaside Outing Club and the Bridgeport Boat Club. Upon April 18, 
1S76, Mr. Whiting was united in marriage to Mary A. Brooks, granddaughter of Joseph Brooks, of 
the old firm of Brooks & Stratton, and to them have been given three children, Russell Hitchcock, 
Eamice Hull and Clarion Brooks. 




JAMES WILSON.— During the years 
from 1857 to 1880, Mr. James Wilson was 
prominently identified with the interests 
of Bridgeport. Those who, to-day, are oc- 
cupied with public and private affairs, 
scarcely realize, as they frequently meet 
this venerable citizen on the street, that 
thirtv years ago he was as active as they 
now are, not only in public matters, but in 
the liberal use of private means for the 
establishment and maintenance of institu- 
tions which have been so fruitful in growth, 
and a permanent benefit to the community. 
Yet such is true. ilr. Wilson came to 
Bridgeport in 1857. associated with the late 
Joseph Alvord, as partner-contractors with 
the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine 
Co. His previous experience as the master 
of three trades, and as an United States 
armorer and gun maker, enabled him to 
achieve a large measure of financial suc- 
cess. His prosperty, however, was an un- 
selfish acquisition, for his increasing means 
were immediately invested in Bridgeport's 
then infant industries and enterprises. The 
Pembroke Iron Foundry (then Wilson & 
Parsons), the Monumental Bronze Co., 
the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Co., and 
many others which are permanent and 
assured. The soundness of his judgment 
and conservatism of his business views, 
caused him to be much sought for on 
boards of direction, so that at one time he 

was a Director in no less than twelve boards of industrial concerns in the city. Called upon to serve 
his fellow citizens in public affairs several times, his duties became exceptionally arduous, owing to his 
peculiar and characteristic conscientiousness. He was elected Alderman on the Republican ticket in 
1865 and Councilman in 1866-67. Mr. Wilson is a member of the ^lasonic body of Bridgeport, being 
a Knight Templar and also a member of Hamden Lodge, I. O. O. F. , of Springfield, Mass. 

Mr. Wilson's personality was always attractive; his large form and genial countenance are familar 
to most of the present citizens and by his kindness and cordiality of manner, together with his well- 
known integrity of character, command the respect and esteem of all. 

Born at Enfield, Conn., July 3, 1815, of New England stock, liberally educated, married in 1838 to 
Miss Sarah Parsons, the daughter of a prominent citizen of Warehouse Point, Conn., and the father 



Jolin W. Giil. 



158 



THE '■ STAXDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



of four children, two only of whom are living, James E., a mechanical engineer, and Charles H., a 
metalurgist and founder. 

He retired from active business in iS8i with an ample competence for his declining 3-ears, and at 
the advanced age of eighty-three is living in quiet and comfort with his life companion, both in good 
mental and ph3'sical health. 



HON. CIVILION FONES, of the City of Bridgeport, is a descendent of two French Huguenot 
families. His paternal great grandfather was an exile to England during the reign of Louis XIV., 
and afterward became an officer in the English Navy, and when retired was given a tract of land 
embracing 1,500 acres in the state of Rhode Island, where the town of Wickford now stands, and on 

which he located. His son Daniel, the 
grandfather, and Christopher (the father of 
Civilion), were born on the ancestral acres, 
and the latter married Sarah A. Marigold of 
.South Carolinian lineage, also a descendent 
of French Huguenots. The son, Civilion, 
came to Bridgeport from New York City in 
1858, where he has since resided. He is a 
graduate of the Baltimore College of Dental 
Surgeons, and has been engaged in the 
practice of his profession, on the corner of 
Main and Bank streets, for about thirty- 
three years, and the appreciation of his pro- 
fessional brethren has been expressed by 
electing him President of the Connecticut 
Valley Dental Association, also President of 
the Connecticut State Dental Society, and 
in 1893 he was appointed by Gov. Morris 
one of the five State Dental Commissioners, 
and upon the organization of the commis- 
sion was elected President by its members, 
which office he still holds. Gov. Coffin also 
re-appointed him in 1895. 

He has been identified with the Repub- 
lican Party since its organization, but never 
held political office until the year 1884, when 
he was elected to represent his ward as 
Councilman. The following year he was 
elected Alderman, and at the April election 
in 1886, was elected Mayor of the city over- 
coming an opposition party majority by 
about 1,000, and was re-elected in the 
^^.^ William F. B.sh..p. Spring of 1887 by an increased majority, 

and hence received an unusual politicat 
support from both parties. During both terms of his office every effort was made for the improvemen 
o f the city. 

In his message of 18S6 he made mention of the necessity of taking urgent means to procure a new 
Post Office Building, and the Council passed a resolution for him to take such steps as were necessary 
to have a bill passed granting the erection of said building. Whereupon he, in company with several 
prominent citizens, visited Washington, and while there a bill passed the House appropriating the 
money to the City of Bridgeport for the new Government Building, which now stands at the corner of 
Broad and Cannon streets— the site of the old St. John's Church. There were improvements made, 
such as the removal of railroad tracks from Water street, the removal of the old Miller Building, 
and erection of the Lower Bridge, also locating and placing of numeroiis gates and crossings. 




THE ''STASDARD'S'' HISTORY OF IIRIDGHI'ORT. 



159 



One of tlie marked benefits was the improvement of the streets and roads about the city. The 
Park Cottage was also built during his last term of office, and many other improvements made of 
minor importance. Both terms were most harmonious in every respect, as there was not a hitch in 
either party during his administration. 

A singular coincidence is the fact that he was born in the same year that the city, of which he was 
twice elected Mayor, was incorporated. He is a member of several clubs in the city and state, and 
was President of the Seaside Club in the year 1892. He has taken several degrees in Odd Fellowship 
and is a thirty-second degree Scottish rite Mason. 

WILLIAM H. :MARI(iOLD, of Bridgeport, Senator from the Fourteenth District, was born in 
Waterbury, Conn., September 17, 1858, and, 
with the exception of two years spent m 
Florida when a boy, lived in that city until 
1 88 1, when he moved to New Haven, re- 
maining there only about six months when 
he went to Bridgeport, where he has since 
remained. He learned the trade of a printer 
in the office of the Waterbury American, 
and was for five years pressman on the 
Bridgeport Farmer. In 1886 he purchased 
the printing office of Mr. Charles Libby, 
and in 1887, organized The ^larigold Print- 
ing Co., of which he is Treasurer and 
Manager. He entered politics in 1S89, 
when he was elected Councilman for the 
First Ward. In 1890 he was elected Alder- 
man from the same ward, and during tlie 
same year was elected Chairman of the Re- 
publican Town Commitee, in which position 
he first came into state notice prominently 
from his fight to compel the counting of the 
famous "specked ballots." In 1891 he was 
nominated and elected Mayor of Bridgeport. 
He was prevented by the Democratic ma- 
jority in the Board of Aldermen from carry- 
ing out the reforms he attempted, althougli 
he carried the fight throughout the entire 
year, when he was again elected by an in- 
creased majority, and with a Republican 
majority in the Common Council working 
with him, successfully carried out the desires 
of the best citizens, and restored harmony 
and tranquility to the departments In 1894 khs^ii t. wiiiii.iK. 

he was nominated for the State Senate and 

elected, and served with credit as Chairman of the Committee on Cities and Boroughs, and also as 
Chairman of the Committees on Joint Rules, on Senate Rules and Contingent Expenses. In 1S96 he 
was again elected Senator, and was elected by the Senators to the position of President Pro-Tempore 
of the Senate. He is also Chairman of the important Committee of Finance and Chairman of the 
Committee on Joint Rules. During the Presidential Campaign of 1896 he was selected as Chairman 
of the Republican Town Committee, and added to his reputation as a successful and sagacious political 
manager. He is a firm believer in and supporter of fraternal societies, and was Grand Master of the 
( )dd Fellows of Connecticut in 1893, and was Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge in 1894-95. 
and in 1895 he was elected Grand Treasurer of the Order for the state, which position he now holds. 
He is also a Knight Templar, a Shriner, a Knight of Pythias, a Red Man, a Forester, a member of the 




i6o 



THE '' STANDARD- S-' HISTORY OF BRWGEPORT. 



United Workmen, the order of Heptasophs, Woodmen of the World, Royal Arcanum, and Good 
Fellows. He is a member of the Seaside Club, the Algonquin Club, the American Wheel, and Presi- 
dent of the Triple Link Wheel Club of Bridgeport, the United Service Club of New York, Camp 
Woodbine, of Port Jefferson, Long Island, and an honorary member of Camp Riga, Twin Lakes and 
many others. He is an old member of the Connecticut National Guard, having served five years with 
Company A, Second Regiment, of Waterbury. He is now Brigade Quartermaster, with rank of Major, 
on the staff of Brigadier-General Frost. He was married, July 7, 1S80, to Miss Annie C. Henderson, of 
Waterbury. They have two children, William H., Jr., and Bessie H. 



EDWARD W. MARSH, for eleven years Treasurer of the People's vSavings Bank, is one of 

Bridgeport's well known and influential 
men. Deeply interested in its business and 
religious life, he holds a high place in the 
esteem of his brother citizens. Mr. Marsh 
is a native of New^ Milford, Conn. He was 
born January 24, 1836, the son of Daniel 
and Charlotte B. Williams Marsh. The 
public schools of his native town furnished 
his education until he was about ten years 
of age, or until the establishment of what 
was called the Academy. This he attended 
for a time, thence going to the Alger Insti- 
tute at South Cornwall for one or two years. 
Another term or two at the New Milford 
Academy finished his school days. Mr. 
;\Iarsh entered the office of the Housatonic 
Railroad at the New Milford station, 
where his father was agent, and was there 
employed for two and one-half years. He 
was later engaged for a short period in the 
freight office at New Haven, repairing to 
Bridgeport in December, 1854. On his 
arrival in the Park City Mr. Marsh entered 
the general freight office here, where he re- 
mained about a year. Seven subsequent 
years saw him employed in the T. Hawley 
Hardware Company, and for twenty years 
he was engaged in the Spring Perch Com- 
pany on John street. It was while he was 
employed at T. Hawley Hardware Company 
that he married, June 8, 1858, Amanda 
Blanden, of Burlington, Otsego Coimty, 
Jam« Wilson. Xew York. 

August 6, 1862, Mr. Marsh enlisted in 
the Nineteenth Regiment, Litchfield County \'olunteers, which afterward became the Second Regi- 
ment, Connecticut Heavy Artillery, in which he received the appointment of Quartermaster Sergeant 
a non-commissioned staff officer. 

In March, 1863, Mr. Marsh was accidentally shot through the head by a pistol in the hands of one 
of the officers of his regiment. In 1864, when General Grant took command of the Army of the 
Potomac, Mr. Marsh's regiment joined it, was at Cold Harbor, in front of Petersburg, and with 
Sheridan in the Shenandoah. Mr. Marsh was promoted to the Captaincy of Company M, Second 
Connecticut Heavy Artillery, February 17, 1864, and was mustered out July 20, 1865. It 
was while serving in the war that Mr. Marsh's only child, Charlotte BHss Marsh, died (May 3, 1863) of 
diphtheria. Mr. Marsh returned to Bridgeport in August, 1865. During Mr. Marsh's life in the Park 




THE '-STAXDARiyS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



i6i 



City he has been before the public in many ways. He has served on the Board of Aldermen as a 
Republican from the First Ward, and represented the city in the General Assembly in 1895, where he 
served upon the important Committee of Finance. During his term in the House, Charles Kellar was 
his colleague. Mr. Marsh is at present Treasurer of the People's Savings Rank, Vice-President of the 
Y. M. C. A., the Bridgeport Hospital, the First National Bank and the Bryant Electric Company, a 
Director in the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Trust Company, and Secretary of the Spring Perch Com- 
pany, and of the Elastic Web Company. He is a member of the G. A. R., the New York Commandery 
of the ^lilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and the Seaside Club. He is also a 
deacon in the South Congregational Church. Mr. Marsh's second wife was Fannie F. Hawley, whom 
he married January 12, 1888. 



ELLIOTT ABRAM UPSON.— Very 
few men have the necessary experience 
and ability to embark in a business that 
necessarily requires foresight and de- 
termination, and accept the full responsi- 
bility at the early age of twenty-one, but 
there was born in Wolcott, Conn., Decem- 
ber 9, 1840, a gentleman who succeeded in 
accomplishing the above object, and carried 
that determination to pave his way to ulti- 
mate success to this very day. Elliott Abram 
L^pson spent his early years at the district 
school in Waterbury, Conn., where he after- 
ward became a teacher. Tiring of the 
monotony of a pedagogue's life, in 1861 he 
began his business career in the ice busi- 
ness. From that time on his great percep- 
tion and power of organization stood him 
in good stead, as through him a number of 
ice companies came into existence, and re- 
main to-day through the necessitude of 
commercial life, a monument to his busi- 
ness ability. Mr. Upson is Secretary and 
Treasurer of Naugatuck \'alley Ice C<j., 
President Ansonia Ice Co., President 
Meriden Ice Co., Treasurer Hall & Upson 
Ice Co., of Waterbury, and President of 
the Ice Dealers' Association of the vState of 
Connecticut. 

The Republican Party has twice 
honored Mr. Upson by a seat in the Com- 
mon Council, in which body he served his ii' ". civii.<,ii f<.iks. 
terms to the satisfaction of his party and 

constituents. He married, February 13, 1867, Alice Booth, daughter of James Booth and Mary 
Beardsley, of an old Stratford family, by whom he has had four children, one being decea.scd. ^Ir. 
Upson is a member of the Seaside Club, and is a regular attendant at the South Congregational 
Church. 




CHARLES FOOTE, son of Gen. Enoch Foote, was born in Stratford, Conn, (now East Bridge-' 
port), December 24, 1793, and died December 6, 1862, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. After leaving 
school Mr. Foote went into the comb business and followed if for a number of years, when he was 
tendered and accepted the position of Cashier of the Middletown Bank, at Middletown, Conn. When 
the Connecticut Bank was incorporated, in the year 1S31, he >vas appointed Cashier, which position he 



l62 



THE " STASDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



held until July i, 1862, when ill health made it necessary for him to retire from active service in thj 
office he had so long and honorably filled. He was warden of St. John's Church for over twenty-five 
years, and the welfare of the church was always looked after with the greatest interest. He was also 
Past Master of St. John Lodge, F. and A. M., and was one of the charter members of Hamilton Com- 
mandery. Mr. Foote did not take a very great interest in politics, yet he was once elected Mayor, 
and also held the office of Alderman and Councilman of this city. At dhc time the Fourth Congres- 
sional Committee of the Whig party endeavored to persuade him to accept the nomination of Congress- 
man from the district, but he preferred to follow the banking business rather than accept the 
nomination. The following is copied from the Standard, issued December 6, 1862: "Mr. Foote was 
among the older class of citizens, and as Cashier of the Connecticut Bank he faithfully and promptly 

discharged all the duties he was called 
upon to perform. He was warden of St. 
John's Church, and, as in all things, he 
was ever prompt and faithful in the dis- 
charge of every dut}-. Of him it may be 
triply said — He was an honest and ex- 
emplary man. " 

ALBERT F. N. WINTTER, a brewer 
by trade, is one of the German residents of 
Bridgeport, having been born at Bandarf 
in Wurtemberg. His education was re- 
ceived at Wildberg in his native country, 
and t went)'-six years ago he came to Bridge- 
port. He was married, November 18, 1875, 
to Miss Pauline K. Veit, by whom he has 
had three children. 

WILLIAM HENRY BUNNELL be- 
gan life in Fairfield, and after securing a 
liberal education at the public school, com- 
menced his business career as a farmer. 
Ilis life, which has been spent entirely in 
this neighborhood, can be chronicled as one 
of great success, and the regard felt for 
him in this community, both as citizen and 
business man, is unbounded. After 
leaving the farm at Westport, he was 
apprenticed to the carriage makers' trade, 
eventually settling in Bridgeport, where he 
finished his mechanical education under 
y. M. Miller, with whom he worked for 
Henry J. Lewis. two ycars. The carriage business being 

irksome, he resigned his position February 
3, 1862, and was appointed Superintendent of the Poor imder contract. The position being made a 
salaried one April i, 1884, he was selected to take charge of the same bureau, and continued in that 
office until 1896. The regard Mr. Bunnell is held in the public estimation is attested by the fact, that 
in spite of changes of administrations and the different political atmospheric upheavals, the official head 
of the Department of the Poor remained unchanged. 

In addition to the above Mr. Bunnell has held the office of Assessor, member of the Board of 
Selectmen of Stratford, Burgess of Stratford (when that town was a borough), and Warden, which 
office is now termed Ma3^or. As a church member our subject has been very prominent. The 
Methodist Church, of which he has been a member for forty years, has honored him by nearly all the 
official positions in that organization. Mr. Bunnell is a Mason, and married, in 1856, Julia G. Foster, 




THE "STAXDAIWS'- HISTORY OF BRH)CrEPORT. 163 

daughter of Edward C. and Eliza Foster, of Danbur_v, the issue of said marriage being nine children, 
four of whom are dead. Mr. Bunnell's attention is now entirely devoted to the real estate business, 
and he resides at No. 132 Seaview avenue, corner of Newfield avenue. 



HARVEY HUBBELL. — Perhaps one of the most successful of the \-ounger manufacturers of 
Bridgeport is Harvey Hubbell, proprietor of the Tool and ilachine Works which bear his name. His 
factory is located on Organ street, in the western part of the city, and it is one of the many busy enter- 
prises in that section. While a young man, Mr. Hubbell has earned an excellent business reputation 
for knowledge and good judgment among the manufacturers of the city. He is a son of the late 
Harvey Hubbell, of Long Hill, who for many years was well known as a manufacturer of gentlemen's 
underwear. Mr. Hubbell, senior, was a very successful business man, and many of his good qualities 
have been inherited by his son. The subject of this sketch was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., December 
20, 1857, and at the age of six years, his parents removed to Long Hill, in tliis state. When quite 
young Mr. Hubbell left home and went to Xew 
York City. Here he spent several years with John 
Roach, the ship-builder. Later on he became 
associated with the Cranston Printing Press Works, 
of Norwich, Conn. He held the position of 
Superintendent of the factory, and served in that 
capacity until he came to Bridgeport in 1888. 
Upon arriving in this city Mr. Hubbell at once- 
opened a small tool and machine shop on Middle 
street, and soon built up such a business that he 
was compelled to seek larger quarters. These he 
foimd in the Knapp & Cowles factorj- on Railroad 
avenue, but these also were soon outgrown. Then 
he took possession of the building on Organ street, 
which for years had been known as Barnum's 
school. Here his factory is located at the present 
time. The building consists of three floors 100x25. 
It is heated by steam, lighted by electricity, and its 
appointments are all in keeping with the most 
modern equipment. The specialty of the factory 
is the manufacture of all kinds of tools, and 
machinery for all lines of mechanical production. 
A feature is also made of the manufacture of brass 
machine screws. Sheet metal press work for elec- 
trical supplies and electric work is also numbered 
among the most valuable specialties manufactured, 
and the record these articles have made in prac- 
tical use fully demonstrates their popularity 
among mechanical workers and manufacturers. 

Although Mr. Hubbell has been in business in this city less than ten years, the fact that he has 
been compelled to seek larger and more extensive quarters on three different occasions during that 
time, is in itself a tribute to his merit and success. He is a skillful mechanic himself and so is able to 
direct the many men in his employ to the advantage of his trade. His recognition has been well 
merited. Socially ^ilr. Hubbell is well known and popular, and is one of the valued members of tbc 
Seaside Club. 




Wlllia.u H. M;ilii;iild. 



WALTER GODDARD.— In official and political as well as social life Walter Goddard has long 
been among the most prominent of the citizens of Bridgeport. For nearly forty years he has been a 
resident of this city, and never during that time has he failed to hold a position that kept in touch 
with the rapid progress of the ever-growing town. Like many another who has attained to enviable 
standing in the community, Mr. Goddard is not a native of this city. He was born at London, 



164 



THE '■ STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



England, February 2, 1836, coming of an old English family. Upon July 4, 185S, he left his home in 
search of fortime in America, and within a short time located in this city, which has ever since been 
almost continually his home. 

His first position was with the old dry goods firm of Hall & Read, and from there he went to 
Easton, conducting a general store in that town. Ever deeply interested in public affairs he was a 
warm advocate of the Union cause, though at that time it took courage, when in old New England, to 
boldly attack the cherished customs of the South. In 1862 he became tired of the monotony of life in 
Easton and returned to the city, engaging in the dry and fancy goods business, and shortly locating 
at Main street and Fairfield avenue. In 1S70 he was first elected a Justice of the Peace, but 
subsequently was re-elected for several terms, and was called upon to preside at the trial of many 

cases of more than ordinary irnportance. 
It was m the same y-ear that he was ap- 
pointed town health officer, entering upon 
the discharge of his duties in the face of 
many difficulties. Many complaints had 
been made of the condition of the city 
water and the slaughter houses, which 
were then located on the immediate out- 
skirts of the city. He fearlessly set out to 
bring about a change, and during his 
term, which lasted several years, a great 
improvement was made. In 1S73 he was 
elected a Member of the Common Council, 
where he served witli fidelity and zeal 
upon some of the most important of the 
committees. The office of Town Auditor 
was also conferred upon him, and in addi- 
tion he served most acceptably upon the 
Board of Relief. For four years he was 
one of the vSchool Committee which regu- 
lated the affairs of the Bridgeport school 
district, and great advances were made in 
the improvement and condition of things, 
so much so that many schools adopted 
their plan. Singing was introduced in the 
public school, and courses of examinations 
were adopted, which are kept up by the 
new system. 

Always a Democrat, he was in 1SS6 
appointed Collector of Customs for the 
district, and under his management the 
number and value of imports increased to 
Eiwiii-d w. Marsh. a wonderful degree. Just at that period 

a strong effort was being made to ccjn. 
solidate the custom houses at Bridgeport and New Haven, but mainly through his efforts it was 
defeated, and it was but a short time before the wisdom of the decision became apparent. Through 
vigorous work he secured the application of the Immediate Transportation Act to this port, and under 
it goods have ever since been brought directly here in bond for appraisal and collection of duty. It 
was also due to his efforts that the Marine Hospital service was instituted here, by which seamen 
receive care in sickness and fitting burial in case of death. During this period the erection of the new 
custom house and post office was begun, and he was appointed by the national officials as disbursing 
agent, all the funds paid out passing through his hands. This was for a period of three years, from 
1888 to 1890, inclusive. In 1889, upon retiring from the Collectorship, he was appointed an Assessor, 
and for three years served faithfully upon this, one of the most important boards in the city, with 




THE 



STAXDAA'D'S" HISTOKY OF BRIDGHl'ORT. 



'65 



credit to liiinself and to the satisfaction of all with whom he came in contact. In 1S93, with the 
change in the national administration, he was appointed once more to the position of Collector of 
Customs, and has since held it, being also custodian of the Government property. Politically, ilr. 
Goddard has always been affiliated with the Democratic Party, but being a believer in sound money 
principles, he, last fall, connected himself with the National Democratic Party, and is a prominent 
member of the Democratic Club. 

Ever ready to do all in his power to assist in the progress of the city, he was active in the 
municipal celebration of July 3 and 4, 1888, securing the presence of the U. S. vS. Atlanta, and upon 
other occasions influencing officers of the Navy Department to despatch vessels to this city. Having 
great faith in the future development of Bridgeport, 'Sir. Goddard years ago invested largely in real 
estate. He had the courage of his belief 
and improved the property, even though 
the expense was great, thus being largely 
instrumental in the building up of the east 
end, and that now attractive section north 
of Old .Mill Green. 

Socially, Mr. Goddard has never been 
prominent, being naturally of a quiet 
and retiring disposition. Of the Seaside 
Club he is an honored member, while his 
name is to be found upon the rolls of the 
Bridgeport Yacht Club, the Democratic 
Club, the Church Club of Connecticut, 
and as an honorary member upon the 
roster of the Second Connecticut Light 
Battery Association. He is one of the 
older Masons of the city, being a member 
of St. John's Lodge No. 3, F. and A. M. 
In the Board of Trade he has ever been 
active, serving upon the important com- 
mittees. For years he has been one of the 
most valued members of Trinity P. F. 
Church, and is at present one of the 
vestrymen. In the formation of St. Luke's 
Church in the east end he did most 
effective service, and is one of the most 
esteemed of the church's friends. In 
brief it can well be said of him that, ever 
on the alert to be of value to his fellows, 
he has made a record of which he can 
jjardonably be proud. 

JOHN A. RUSLING.— Among the Eiik,u a. Upso... 

merchants of Bridgeport none is more 

respected than John A. Rusling, who, although not a native of the Park City, has spent so many 
years here that his business place is considered a landmark by even the oldest inhabitants. Mr. 
Rusling was born in the village of Hope, Warren County, N. J., December 21, 184S, and after 
receiving his education at the public schools, left his native town for Wilmington, Del., and from 
thence to Philadelphia, Pa. Returning to his native home he commenced a business career, but New 
York City offering better opportunities he removed his belongings there, coming to Bridgeport in 1877. 
His enterprising nature soon found an opening in the tailoring and furnishing line, and in company 
with Mr. Wilson, soon built up a paying business. 

Mr. Rusling has been honored by the Republican Party, of which he is a great worker, with the 
office of Police Commissioner, and as a member of the City Council, for which position he was elected 




i66 



THE '• STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



by a decisive majority. He is a member of F. and A. ^l., and belong-s to Hamilton Commandery ot 
Bridgeport. He also is a member of the Outing Club, Seaside, Country and Algonquin Clubs. Mr. 
Rusling was married, September 14, 1871, to Mary S. Lane, havmg as issue three children, one being 
deceased. 



CAPTAIN JOHN McNEIL.— To a manufacturing city of such distinction as Bridgeport, offer- 
ing inducements to the projectors of great industrial enterprises, the necessity of exemplary harbor 
facilities cannot be too strongly borne upon. How much the success of great establishments, intended 
to be far-reaching in their importance, is bound up in the adequacy of transportation possibilities is 
too evident to need extended explanation. Sufficient is it to state that the industrial and commercial 

prosperity of a community are, and must 
ever be dependent, in great degree, upon 
the ease and cheapness with which the 
transporter may receive and ship his wares. 
The excellence of Bridgeport's situation in 
this regard constitutes its attractiveness to 
the promoters of its great manufacturing 
plants. It is obvious then, that whoever 
takes a prominent part in the development 
of the.se facilities must, perforce, be the 
recipient of much merited credit. To him 
the industrial life of the community is very 
greatly due. And when Bridgeport reckons 
with those who have, in one way or another 
played an important part in her growth and 
prosperity, she must pay deserved tribute 
to the present Harbor Ma.ster, Captain John 
McNeil. ;More to him, perhaps, than to 
any other single individual in her history, 
have Bridgeport's harbor improvements 
been due. 

The subject of this biographical sketch 
has seen the place of his birth grow from 
a village to an enterprising city. He was 
born here, one of twelve children, October 
9, 1830, the son of Abraham A. and Mary 
Ann (Hults) McNeil and grandson of Wil- 
liam McNeil, who graduated at Yale College 
in the class of 1777, and was conspicuous in 
the French troubles at the beginning of the 
present century. Archibald McNeil, his 
great-grandfather on the paternal side, was 
.\ibert wintter. in the Revolution. His maternal grandfather, 

William Hults, was a New England mariner, 
who was lost at sea with the brig William in the year 181 3. Captain McNeil's father, Abraham 
McNeil, was engaged in ocean commerce at New Haven as supercargo. He was the founder of 
Bridgeport's lighthouse system, and for many years kept the lighthouse here. Thus it is seen that, 
both on the paternal and maternal sides. Captain John McNeil inherited a liking for the sea. When a 
boy of sixteen, he began his career as cabin boy of the schooner Hazard. For thirty-six years he 
sailed the seas. From cabin boy he rose to command a vessel, and at one time and another he had 
charge of steamers plying between New Haven, Bridgeport and New York. He served as an 
apprentice to the Bridgeport harbor pilots, from 1847 to 1850, and was then appointed a regular pilot, 
receiving a state license to that effect, which he held until 1855 ; and during that time he handled every 
class of vessel that came into Bridgeport harbor. 




THE "STAXDARiyS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



167 



In the year 1SS2, the office of Harbor Master was created by a city ordinance and Captain McXcil 
was chosen to fill the important position which he has since held. Here was opportunity for him to 
give to his home city the benefits of his ripe imderstanding and wide experience. But before this 
period, his services had been conspicuous. As long ago as the year 1866, Captain McNeil, then 
captain of the steamer J. B. Schuyler, plying between Bridgeport and New York, recognized that Pen- 
field Reef was the virtual key to this harbor, together with the fact that it was one of the most danger- 
ous spots along the sound. He thereupon petitioned the government at Washington to erect a light- 
house there; and after four years of determined effort was rewarded by seeing his cherished 
hope materialize. Further than this, the government, in recognition of his public spirit, 
allowed him to select the first keeper of the light whicli he had been so instrumental in securing. 
This was only one of many things. After 
fourteen years of effort he again had the 
satisfaction of seeing another cherished 
wish bear fruit, and a fog horn in connec- 
tion with the Penfield Reef light house be- 
came an accomplished fact. At his sug- 
gestion also, the government, in 1868, 
raised and enlarged the inner and outer 
beacons, two qld-time diminutive structures 
which had proved dangerous to craft in 
foggy weather. 

It was in February, 18S2, tiuit Captain 
McNeil cotnmunicated with Colonel Bar- 
low, in charge of the engineering opera- 
tions for this district, regarding the widen- 
ing of the channel from the inner beacon 
to the Naugatuck dock to 600 feet, a step 
demanded by our growing commerce. 
Colonel Barlow's reply is interesting, and 
an abstract follows: "The channel 300 
feet wide and twelve feet deep is now com- 
pleted from the Fairfield Avenue Bridge to 
the inner beacon, above the steel works 
dock, it being much more. It would ap- 
pear, therefore, that, so far as the commerce 
of Bridgeport is concerned the project of 
improvement may be regarded as finished. 
If the requirements of vessels for refuge are 
such that more room is needed at Bridge- 
port, your suggestions to widen the harbor 
from the inner beacon to the steamboat 
wharves is an excellent plan." Acting on 
this suggestion. Captain McNeil forwarded wiiiiam h. Kunneii. 

to Washington the first petition to extend 

the whole project of 1871. This resulted in an appropriation of $00,000 being recommended by the 
War Department for the execution of the work. A supplementary appropriation was later made 
for the purpose of widening the channel between the inner beacon and the Naugatuck dock. Under 
the new project, the width of the channel between the points named was increased to 600 feet, which 
wassubsequently increased to 774 feet. After a request made in 1885 without effect, in July, 1892, 
in pursuance of a recommendation of Captain McNeil, the point of Stony Bar was cut off and the 
channel deepened, widened and straightened. A special act of Congress was, in 1894, passed on the 
recommendation of Captain McNeil by Congressman Robert E. DeForest, for straightening and 
deepening the channel on the outer bar; also for connecting it with the new cut through the inner 
bar. Captain McNeil later conceived the plan of building a breakwater to extend from the point of the 




i68 



THE '■ STAXDARD'S'' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



"Tongue " to the inner beacon, and having a large area to the north dredged out, thus making a 
harbor for boats of all classes out of the way of incoming and outgoing vessels. He forthwith sent 
a petition to Washington, an appropriation was made and the plan consummated. The accomplish- 
ment of this plan meant retention here of a large and increasing oyster industry, whose operations 
reach, perhaps, from $35 0,000 to $400,000 per annum, full3-$6o,ooo of which probably reaches the coffers 
of our merchants. 

In January, 1892, Captain }iIcNeil recommended the constructing of a lighthouse at tlie East End 
of the breakwater, which extends from the point of the "Tongue " to the inner beacon, and in 1893 
the lighthouse was constructed. In 1887 Captain McNeil had also forwarded a petition to the national 
capital, the result of which was the deepening, widening and straightening of Pequonnock river from 

Washington Avenue Bridge to Winton's 
dock at Berkshire Bridge. In Decem- 
ber, 1892, another petition for a can buoy 
on the southwest side of the outer bar 
was also granted, this being the first can 
buoy Bridgeport ever had. It was like- 
wise through his instrumentality that 
the system of storm signals on Point 
Lookout was inaugurated. It was at the 
request of the Lighthouse Board that 
Captain McNeil located the lighthouse of 
Penfield reef, Bridgeport bar and the 
Breakwater. 

Also in October, 1894, Captain McNeil 
petitioned for the new project which was 
to make the new channel fifteen feet deep 
at low water, and 300 feet wide from 
the outer bar to the bridge; also to 
dredge out on the west side below the 
Naugatuck dock to the harbor line; also 
on the east side, above the Farist vSteel 
Works to the Lower Bridge. In this new 
project is also included the improvement 
in Yellow Mill Pond and Johnson's Creek, 
also the contemplated improvements in 
Black Rock harbor, all of which plans 
were approved, and the cost of this new 
project was estimated on in the War I)e- 
partment's office in New York, and the 
project was approved by the late Colonel 
Houston, then United States Engineer in 
charge of our district. Through the per- 
sistency of the Honorable E. J. Hill, of 
Norwalk, our representative in Congress, 
the first appropriation for the Yellow Mill improvement has been made. 

In April of the year 1S82, Horace Smith called the attention of Captain McNeil to the damage 
constantly done by the washing away of land and the filling in of Cedar Creek. Captain McNeil drew 
up a petition asking for the survey of Black Rock harbor and its tributaries. The petition was favor- 
ably reported and passed at the following session of Congress, and early in the following spring 
another petition was forwarded to Washington for an appropriation of $80,000 with which to carry on 
the work. A committee was subsequently appointed to visit Washington, of which Captain McNeil 
was one. They laid the matter before the River and Harbor Committee and the $80,000 was subse- 
quently recommended and granted. This was used for dredging a channel and building a breakwater. 
The foregoing gives a summary of Captain McNeil's services to the city, services which have been 




ey Hubbell. 



THE 



STAXDARD-S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



169 



recognized and rewarded by a continuance in office under the suffrage alike, of Republican and Demo- 
cratic common coimcils. 

On the occasion of the festivities of the 3d and 4th of July, 1888, Captain McNeil had charge of 
the harbor display, on the night of the 3d, which was the most imposing marine celebration ever seen 
in these waters. He also superintended the " Landing of Columbus," Cohmibus Day, and on numer- 
ous occasions has extended the hospitality of his boats to the City Government, and citizens of note 
from other places. 

In 1865 Captain McNeil married Anna .Scofield, daughter of James and Anna Maria (Barnes) 
Scofield, of New York City, and great granddaughter of Ebenezer Scofield, a revolutionary officer. 
They had one child, a daughter, the wife of the Rev. Louis N. Booth, rector of Trinity Episcopal 
Church of this city. Captain McNeil is a 
member of the Board of Trade, of which 
he has been President, and was President 
of the Democratic Association, a member 
of the Seaside Club, the Algonquin, His- 
torical Society and other social organiza- 
tions. In February of this year he re- 
ceived his sixth appointment as Harbor 
Master. 

ARCHIBALD McNEIL, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, comes of good old revo- 
lutionary stock. His great grandfather, 
Archibald McNeil, was born in Wood- 
bury, Conn., November 19, 1740. He en- 
listed in the War of the Revolution July 
3, 1779, and served with honor, doing a 
patriot's part. His son, William McNeil, 
grandfather of Archibald, was born in 
what is now Naugatuck. He studied at 
Yale College and graduated in the class of 
1777. He participated in the French 
troubles that followed the Revolution, and 
was taken prisoner and confined in a 
French prison, through which experience 
his family became interested in the celebrat- 
ed "French spoliation claims." His son, 
Abram Archibald McNeil, father of the 
present Archibald, was born in Derby, in 
1802, but lived for many years in Bridge- 
port where he founded and was, tintil the 
time of his death, connected with the 
Bridgeport lighthouse. Archibald McNeil ^^"'"^'" '""''i""'- 

was born in Bridgeport, July 2, 1843. He 

passed his early years in this city, attending the public schools, and then spent four years m New 
Haven, where he graduated at the celebrated Hopkins Grammar School. After leaving school he 
settled in this city, and has been in business here since that time, with the exception of twelve years, 
during which period he was in the export trade with Cuba in New York City. For eighteen years 
past he has been one of the most extensive wholesale bituminous coal dealers in this section, being sole 
agent for six of the most import collieries. In 1881 he married Jean McKenzie Clan Ranald, daughter 
of Captain George J. Clan Ranald, of New York City. They have three boys. Mr. McNeil has 
always been in the social swim and popular with his large circle of acquaintances. He was one of the 
charter members, and for two years President of the old Eclectic Club when it represented the best 
social elements of the city. He was for many years a member of the Seaside Club, and was a charter 




170 



THE -'STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



member and for two years President of the new Algonquin Club, to which he now belongs. In 1872-73 
Mr. McNeil was a member of the Common Council from the old second ward, on the Democratic 
side, during the hot times of the first police muddle, known to old Bridgeporters as the days of the 
"two Johns and the two Henrys." 

From 1874 to 1877 Mr. McNeil was Commodore of the first Bridgeport Yacht Club, and was an 
efficient officer, as he was always a good sailor and deeply interested in all boating matters. He is one 
of the Board of Governors of the new Bridgeport Yacht Club, at Black Rock. Mr. McNeil was always 
a Democrat in politics, and stood by the ship in all weather. He was nominated for Representative in 
the Legislature at the election of October, 1896, and although swallowed up in the landslide, had the 
consolation of running some 400 ahead of his ticket, which testified to his standing in the community 

at large. He represented his ward in the 
Common Council in 1872-73, and, although 
strongly urged, refused to allow his name 
to g'o before the convention for MajJ-or, in 
1897. 

PHILO M. BEERS.— Out of the many 
homes in the known world how many does 
not possess a sewing machine? And yet how 
many will stop to think that in all that vast 
amount of mechanism the needle plays the 
most important part. The mediaeval fish 
bone that was used for centuries has been 
succeeded by the ingenuity of man, by a 
minute particle of steel so constructed and 
tempered that, with care, they will with con- 
stant use last for months. 

Bridgeport has among its many indus- 
tries one of the largest needle factories in 
this country, the inventive genius of its 
head, Philo M. Beers, being the means of 
the installation of automatic machinery, 
that will produce from 600,000 to 700,000 
needles in one month. The product of this 
factory is favorably known by all dealers, 
and the great quantity of needles used on 
the Wheeler & Wilson machines are all of 
tliis pattern. Philo M. Beers, the inventor 
(jf the valuable machinery for the manu- 
facture of all kinds of needles, was born 
in Cornwall, Conn., July 23, 1835, and came 
to Stratford at the age of twelve, where he 
was educated in the public schools. Remov- 
ing to Bridgeport in 1858 he went into busi- 
ness, but soon after, the Civil War breaking out, he at once volunteered and went to the front. After 
serving in the army for the full term of enlistment, he returned to Bridgeport in order to make a study 
of the improvements necessary in the manufacture in his particular lines. After devoting a great deal 
of time and money he succeeded in accomplishing his object. 

As a Republican Mr. Beers served two years in the Common Council with beneficial results to the 
city, and though not active in politics his advice is very eagerly sought. 

Philo M. Beers married, October 12, 186 r, Augusta S. Hubbard, having an issue of five children; 
his son, J. W. H. Beers, being associated with him in the manufacture of sewing-machine needles. 

As a Mason he stands very high, having attained the thirty-second degree. He is also a member 
of the G. A. R. and of the Roof Tree Club. 




John 



THE ''STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH)GEPORT. 171 

The makers of history in industrial centers are the manufacturers, and of the numerous firms 
mentioned in this work none is more respected than that of P. M. Beers. 



CHARLES BOOTHE BUCKINGHAM, probably one of the best known of the local business 
men, was born in Bridgeport, September 20, 1847. He received his rudimentary education in the 
public schools, after which he entered Emory F. Strong's Academy. After completing his course in 
that institution he became associated with his father, the late Nathan Buckingham, in the furniture 
business. On the decease of the latter (which occurred in February, 1885), the affairs of that firm 
passed under the control of the subject of this sketch. His early bu.siness training, obtained under the 
tutorage of the elder Buckingham, gave him a peculiar fitness for the management of the large 
interests entrusted to his stewardship. The 
house had been established fifty-four years 
ago, and its foundation was built upon hon- 
orable methods, a line of polic}' which has 
since been continued under its present head. 
The firm name has become a landmark, as 
well as a household word throughout Fair- 
field Count}-. 

Mr. Buckingham is a member of several 
social and benevolent organizations, prom- 
inent among which are the Seaside Club, 
Lodge of Odd Fellows, Pequonnock Lodge 
of Sons of the American Revolution, 
Scientific and Historical Societies and 
the Universalist Church. Politically Mr. 
Buckingham is a Republican. He is also a 
Trustee of the City Savings Bank, and 
President of the Bridgeport Coach Lace Co. 
On March 24, 1875, Mr. Buckingham married 
Miss Justine H. Bellows. They have two 
children, Nathan C. and Earle M. 

FRANK E. CLARK.— To few of the 
younger business men of the city have the 
passing years brought a greater measure of 
success than to Frank E. Clark, at present 
prominent not only in business but in social 
and political life. Starting out in life's 
battle with none but the ordinary advan- 
tages, he has attained to a place of honor 
and earned the commendation of a large 
circle of friends. Though the public career 
of Mr. Clark has been comparatively short, l,,,,^ McNeil, 

his life has been marked by varied and 

interesting experiences. He is one of the few persons who can well be called self-made men. In i860 
he was born in the little town of Salisbury, among the picturesque Berkshire Hills. This place has 
been the home of his ancestors for fully two hundred j-ears, his parents being of English and Irish 
descent, and springing from the same root as the famous firm of thread makers of the same name. 

When a mere lad he went from his home to Amenia, N. Y., and thence departed for the West. 
After a short stay in Missouri he located in Iowa, where, later, he embarked in business. In this he 
prospered, but the longing for home was irresistible, and he ultimately returned to the Nutmeg State. 
After enjoying a vacation he became clerk at famous Conley's Inn, at Torrington, and from that place 
came to this city, about fifteen years ago. 

It was on January 21, 1884, that he was united in marriage to Mary Gregory Thorme, daughter of 




172 



THE "STAXDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



David Thorme, for many years a prominent contractor with the Howe Sewing Machine Co. Of a 
particularly domestic temperament, Mrs. Clark has devoted herself almost entirely to her home ditties, 
but during her husband's service as Mayor assisted him most happily in discharging the social duties of 
his position. Not long after this he secured the contracts for the labor at the jails of Fairfield and 
Litchfield Counties, which he still holds. In order to be near his employes he has built a pleasant 
home on North avenue, directly opposite the County Jail of this County, which, while unpretentious, 
is one of the most cozy in the city. In June of 1894 he entered public life as a member of the Board 
of Public Works, and at once took an active part in its deliberations. He was instrumental in securing 
the crushing of stone for the streets at the long unused city crusher, thus effecting a saving of about 
thirty cents a ton over the contract price. He also advocated the present system of issuing work 

tickets for labor on the city streets to the 
deserving poor, which has resulted in the 
reduction of the number of families aided 
by the Board of Charities to a figure below 
that known previously for the past twenty 
years. In April, 1895, he was elected Mayor 
by a majority of 758, being the only Demo- 
cratic candidate in New England who was 
successful in a ma}'orality contest that 
spring. Soon after his election he caused a 
settlement of the long-standing police 
struggle by the appointment of the present 
Superintendent, Eugene Birmingham. This 
was accomplished by recourse to the Legis- 
lature and was the promotion of a faithful 
official, a policy which the Mayor greatly 
favored. 

The garbage reducing plant of the 
Bridgeport Utilization Company was also 
completed and set in operation during his 
term of office and under his direction. Early 
in the present year it was decided to re- 
organize the company, which had up to then 
been conducting the reduction plant located 
at the West End. From its inception Mr. 
Clark had been deeply interested in the 
work of the company, and he was most fit- 
tingly, at that time, appointed to the Super- 
intendency of the plant. In July, at the 
holding of the annual meeting, he was 
chosen to the Presidency, and is now busily 
engaged in attending to these added duties. 
Archibald McNeil. During his term as Mayor, and on his 

recommendation, the first steps toward de- 
vising and building a better system of sewers in the city were taken. Permanent street paving was 
another improvement favored, it being his opinion that the building of good, durable and permanent 
roads is true economy. He favored the adoption of the present police signal system, to effect a saving 
of money and bring about greater efficiency in the department of public safety, and worked hard to settle 
the differences arising between the city and the Consolidated Railroad, brought about by the effort to elim- 
inate all grade crossings within the city limits. In this work he was eminently successful, and after many 
conferences, in company with Messrs. W. E. Seeley and F. S. Stevens, signed an agreement with the 
N. Y., N. H & H. Railroad Company, providing for the carrying forward of the work. Under this 
agreement the herculean task was entered upon and went smoothly on until a legal action was com- 
menced to determine the validity of the act under which the agreement was made. This has since 




THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



173 



been decided in favor of the cit)-, the legality of the act being decided. In the meantime the construction 
of the new roadbed was continued, and the bills were submitted to the auditing committee of which 
Mr. Clark was Chairman. Last spring Mr. Clark was urged by his friends to accept a re-nomination 
for the mayoralty, but refused. Soon after the election he was appointed by Mayor Taylor, his 
successor, to the Board of Assessors, and has already rendered good service on that important 
commission. 

Mr. Clark is a member of many organizations, including the Ma.sonic and Odd Fellows fraternities, 
being connected with Corinthian Lodge, F. and A. M., and Pequonnock Lodge, L O. O. F. He is also 
a charter member of Nebo Senate, Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order. Among the members of 
the Algonquin Club he is accounted a "jolly good fellow," and the distinction of honorar}^ membership 
has been conferred upon him by the Camp 
Riga Association. For a long time he has 
been connected with Trinity Episcopal 
Church, and has aided to a great extent in 
the jiromotion of its successful work. 

GEORGE WILSON FAIRCIIILD.— 
The fact that the jewelry house of George 
W. Fairchild was established as long ago as 
1865, and has been in successful operation 
ever since that date, speaks well for the 
business capability of its proprietor. Mr. 
Fairchild, who is a lineal descendent of the 
Fairchilds who settled in Stratford, Conn., 
in 1639, was born in that town in 1837, 
where he received his education, and where 
he now resides in the old family homestead. 
From his native place he went to New 
York City, learning the jewelry business 
there, first with A. C. Benedict, later with 
Osborne, Boardman & Townscnd. In the 
fall of 1S65 Mr. Fairchild came to Bridge- 
port and established the house which bears 
his name. He has occupied his present 
store at 357 Main street for the past twenty 
years, the first location having been in the 
Citizens' Building. 

In July, 1887, the safe of the Fairchild 
establishment was broken open, and jewelry 
to the amount of $7,000 or $8,000 taken. 
The Jeweler's Association, of which Mr. 
Fairchild is a member, succeeded in run- 
ning down and convicting the three men i,i ji^, .^, jj^.^^.^ 
who committed the theft, but only about 

$500 worth of stolen property was recovered. A portion of the goods taken belonged to customers of 
Mr. Fairchild, and notwithstanding his serious loss he honorably made good all their property, an act 
which speaks to the highest credit of the firm. Mr. Fairchild is a member of the Board of Education, 
a trustee of the Stratford Library Association, a charter member of the Village Improvement Society, 
and a trustee of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Savings Bank of Bridgeport. For nearly a quarter of a 
century he has been Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School of his native town, and is 
always interested in every benevolent enterprise. 

On October 19, 1864, Mr. Fairchild married Miss Helen Adela Parrott, of Bridgeport, by whom 
he has had four children — three sons and one daughter. The eldest .son died in 1875. The two 
remaining sons are associated with him in business. 




174 



THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



ORANGE MERWIX, of the banking firm of Marsh, Merwin & Lemmon, was born at New 
Milford, Conn., August 21, 1S54. He is probably one of the best known and most popular of 
Bridgeport's citizens. Mr. Merwin is President of the Board of Fire Commissioners, a member of the 
Seaside and Roof Tree Clubs, Treasurer of the Y. M. C. A. Association and Boys' Club, and is a 32d 
deo-ree Mason. 



ALFRED BEACH FAIRCHILD, son of Charles N. and Louisa (Beach) Fairchild, is descended 
from Thomas and Katherine (Craig) Fairchild, who came from London, England, and first settled in 
Stratford, Conn., about the year 1639. 

Alfred B. Fairchild was born in the village of Nichols Farms, town of Trumbull, Conn., July 13,, 

1845, and received his education in the 
common school of the village. At the age 
of eighteen he left Trumbull and his 
father's farm, and acted as clerk in tlie 
store of his brother, Henry C. Fairchild, 
in Bridgeport, where he continued until 
1867. Being then of age he began busi- 
ness for himself by purchasing the village 
store in Nichols Farms, his native place. 
Here he continued successfully for three 
years, and then purchased the general 
store at North Bridgeport in connection 
with the woollen mills of Dean, La Monte 
& Co., which he conducted with success 
till the destruction of the woollen mills 
by fire, which, in a large measure, de- 
stro3-ed the business. 

Mr. Fairchild then entered the insur- 
ance and real estate business, which he 
commenced in August, 1874, and in that 
business he has continued until the present 
time. He has held the Secretaryship of 
the Bridgeport Board of Underwriters for 
nearly ten years, and was also Secretary 
of the Bridgeport Mutual Life Association 
for about the same period, and is now its 
President. In May, 1894, he associated 
with himself in business the late Wm. C. 
Mead, as a partner, under the firm name 
of Fairchild & Mead, which is still con- 
tinued by the surviving partner. 'Sir. 
Fairchild has never been prominent in 
Charles B. Buckingnam. politics, but he Is a member of the Board 

of Fire Commissioners of the city at the 
present time, receiving his appointment as a Democrat from Mayor Taylor. He is a member of the 
Masonic Fraternity, of the Seaside Club, and has been for many years connected with the South 
Congregational Church. Mr. Fairchild was married to Eliza Mills Tomlinson, daughter of Gideon M. 
Toralinson, of Stratford, June 18, 1873, and has two sons living. 

FRANK T. STAPLES. — Of the younger citizens of Bridgeport none is more popular than the 
above-namsd gentleman, who, in the varied business of banking, real estate and insurance (as a 
partner with his father) has been markedly successful. Frank T. Staples was born in Bridgeport, 
November 24, 1863, and was educated at the public school, graduating in 1881. He then accepted a 
position in the insurance department in his father's office, and in January, 1882, upon the death of 





George W. Fairchikl. 



Orange Merwin. 
(Kire Com.) 





Albert IS. Fairchild. 
(Fire Com.) 



Frank T. Staples. 
(Fire Com.) 



THE " STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



175 



T. R. Cnittenden, took charge of the banking portion of the business, with which he has since been 
connected. In 18S4 he became a partner in the concern, under the firm name of James Staples & Co., 
successors to the business established by James vStaples. Mr. Staples was married, December 16,1884, 
to Laura Frances Stevens, having as issue one son (Richard T. Staples). As a Republican he was 
appointed Fire Commissioner, June ist, 1897, which official position he still holds. This gentleman is 
socially very popular, and is a member of the Seaside Club. 



"WALTER STAPLETOX was born on the 31st day of January, 1S65, was educated at the Union 
School, and has been a resident of his native city (Bridgeport) all his life. The present generation are 
all acquainted with the many genial qualities of our subject, both as a busine.ss man and a gentleman. 
His business (that of a bottler and manu- 
facturer), is a very extensive one, which 
has been built up from a very moderate 
beginning. Mr. Stapleton is the founder 
of the American Bottlers' Association, of 
which lie has been President for three 
years (an honor very much sought). He 
is a great believer in fraternity, as his 
membership in the Elks, Foresters, Arion 
and Turner vSocieties will indicate. The 
popularity of Mr. Stapleton is well known. 
The Fourth Regiment Connecticut N. G. , at 
its election in Februar)', 1897, appointed him 
as their Paymaster with the rank of First 
Lieutenant, which position he has filled 
with credit to himself and the regiment. 
But it is in politics where his friends are 
manifold, and no candidate had better 
recommendations for the office of Fire 
Commissioner than the subject of our 
sketch. The present Board, of which he 
is a member, has succeeded beyond antici- 
pation in pushing to the front plans for 
the betterment of the department, and in 
Mr. Stapleton the taxpayers have a repre- 
sentative who will look fully after their 
interests. The future political career of 
the gentleman will be watched with much 
kindly interest. He is unmarried. 

LEWIS B. SILLIMAN, one of the 
leading wholesale dealers in and a producer 
of crude petroleum, a gentleman well lames staples, 

known throughout Xew England, was 

born at Durham, Greene County, New York, June 9, 1S32. When he was twelve years of 
age, he, with his parents, removed to Bridgeport, where he received his education in a select 
classical school. In 1885 Mr. Silliman located at Titusville, Pa., where he remained until 
1887, having been engaged in the banking business, and also a producer of crude petroleum. 
During the latter year above mentioned, he returned to Bridgeport where he engaged in his 
present business. He still retains his interests in the oil region of Pennsylvania, the Standard 
Oil Company taking his product of crude oil. At his place of business. No. 368 Water street, 
Bridgeport, he conducts an extensive trade in illuminating, cylinder, engine, spindle, machinery, and 
other oils, lubricating greases, petroleum product, belt dressing, stainless oils, etc. He also deals 
extensively in iiava/ stores, which he receives direct from the southern markets. His special brand of 




176 



THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



illuminating, " Calcium Light." oil is a great favorite with the trade, and an immense output is sold 
every year. Some idea of the extent of the business conducted by Mr. Silliman may be gained from 
the fact that he has three floors, 150x30 feet, fully stocked, and has a dock in the rear. He also owns 
the schooner M. O. Wells, which makes weekly trips to New York. He makes occasional trips to the 
oil region, is in frequent communication with manufacturers of oils, benzines, etc., and is therefore 
able to save much time and money in transportation. It will naturally be seen that he is in the 
position to supply the trade of New England at the lowest market rates, and can guarantee prompt 
shipment either by rail or water. Mr. Silliman is a prominent member of the Seaside Club, South 
Congregational Church, the State Sunday School Association, and the Sons of the Revolution. 
Politically, Mr. Silliman is a Republican. While residing at Titusville, he was for eight years a 

member of the City Council, six years 
(if that time he was President of the 
Board; he was also President of and an 
influential member of the Library Associa- 
tion of that city. On May 15, 1S62, he 
married Miss Susan Hawley Sterling, 
oldest daughter of the Hon. Sherwood 
Sterling. Mr. Silliman has always been 
identified with every movement for the 
betterment of Bridgeport; he is a public 
spirited citizen, and is a liberal contrib- 
utor to all charitable and religious causes. 
He is highly esteemed as a citizen and a 
neighbor. 

FRANK MONTIGNANL— The 

visitor at the photographic studio of 
Frank Montignani on vState street will find 
much to interest him. An extended ex- 
perience as a photographic artist both in 
this country and abroad is the recom- 
mendation that Mr. Montignani has to 
offer to his patrons. Serving his appren- 
ticeship of seven years with the firm of 
Ross & Thompson, of Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, photograpers to Her Majesty the 
Queen, Mr. Montignani went from there 
to London, where he became associated 
with Seargent, the royal photographer. 
Coming to this country at the age of 
twenty-three, he worked in the employ of 
Charles H. Williams, and finally came to 
Bridgeport, where he established his busi- 
ness in 1871. Mr. Montignani has the 
honor of being the first one in this city to engage in enameling, water color painting, and the 
making of carbon prints. He has in his possession the negatives of pictures he has taken of many 
Bridgeport people for the past twenty-three years. The date of Mr. Montignani's birth was October 
30, 1847, in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was married, Janiiary 23, 1870, to Mary Francis 
Hill, by whom he has had two children, a son and daughter. The son, Vincent DeBois Montignani, 
has succeeded to his father's business, having the reputation of being a first-class crayon artist. Mr. 
Montignani attends the South Church, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Bridgeport Lodge 
of Elks, No. 36, and the Concordia Society. 




Frank K. Cla 



DAVID SHERMAN BEACH. — In these days of slow progress, it is pleasant to record the 




l>,.via Slieiman l:. 




Franklin Cook. 



ruH 



STA.XDARDS- HISTORY OF HKIDGEl'ORT. 



'77 



success of one of Bridgeport's public spirited citizens, who, although quite a young man, has made an 
enviable record in the realms of finance. David Sherman Beach was born in Bridgeport, Fairfield 
County, Conn., February 26, 1861. Descended from one of the oldest families in the state (dating 
from revolutionary time), he, by inherent tact and great business abilities, has succeeded in building 
up a corporation whose scope and destiny is unknown as yet to our great people, though entirely of 
advantage to its investors, and bondholders, is philanthropic. His system to a great many was 
visionary, but time that works wonders has convinced the skeptics that in David Sherman Beach there 
is the element of push and pluck to be one of the ablest financiers of his time. The North American 
Investment Company', of which he is the head, was incorporated under the laws of the state of New 
Jersey, 'SVa.y 26, i8g6, with a great many of Bridgeport's prominent citizens as directors. 

Horticulture seems to have been the 
study of his early business life, for at the 
age of fourteen we find him a partner in 
the firm of |. H. Beach & Sons, of Horti- 
culture Farm ; at the age of twenty-eight 
he became the sole owner of the vast 
expanse of greenhouses called Agricul- 
tural Emporium, which, in spite of a 
checkered career remains to remind him 
o: days gone by. David Sherman Beach 
is tlie author of the Beach Insurance Bill, 
which, although not regarded favorably 
by the members of the Legislature of 1897, 
IS looked upon as the forerunner of a 
measure that will entirely meet with his 
ideas, and secure the benefits embodied in 
b.is bill. 

Mr. Beach was married, October 15, 
i.sSj, at the age of twenty four, to Mary 
Jane Meeker, datighter of Mr. and Mrs. 
Hurr Meeker, of Westport, Conn., liaving 
an issue of four childicn-- Jolm H., David 
Slierman, Jr., Harlan Page, and ICIla F., 
who died in infancy. 

Society seems to demand a good por- 
tion of his recreation hours, as he is a 
nicniher of a number of social and church 
clubs, a noteworthy one being the local 
Christian Endeavor vSociety, of which he 
is the President. Mr. Beach is a com- 
municant of the First Congregational 
Church of Bridgeport, and has held his 
membership for twenty years. This his- 
tory might well record the fact, that it 

is owing to such energetic citizens as David Sherman Beach, that the city of Bridgeport has made 
such wonderful growth during the past twenty years. 




Walter Stjipleton, Kire Commi! 



GEORGE FRANKLIN COOK was born in Birmingham, England, April 30, 1843. At the age 
of four years he came to this country with his parents. His father, Richard Captain Cook, started 
the first bakery in East Bridgeport. His death was the result of an accident which occurred when he 
was but thirty-eight years old. He left a widow and six children. He was conducting a prosperous 
business at the time of his untimely death. George F. Cook was educated in the schools of 
Bridgeport. At eighteen he enli.sted in Company I, Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, 
September, 1861, and served with credit and distinction for four years. He was the only wagon- 



178 



THE "STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



Mastei" the Regiment had during its service. The Regiment never went into action but that he 
went and carried his musket. With three others he captured eight guerrillas opposite Vicksburg. 

Mr. Cook had a large number of horses under his charge during the four 5'ears' service, but 
never lost a horse except those that were killed in action. While aboard the ship King Fisher, more 
than half the horses aboard were killed in a storm off Cape Hatteras, in December, 1861. Through 
constant care and watchfulness jMr. Cook landed all that he had charge of in good condition. May, 
1862, while in the Gulf of Mexico en route from Ship Island to New Orleans on board the ship 
Western Empire, with a cargo of 200 horses, the ship was struck by a calm which lasted for two 
weeks. It was necessary to allow the horses only two quarts of water and two quarts of oats a day, 
but none suffered to be incapacitated from the siege. 

Mr. Cook was wounded at Cedar Creek, Va., October 19, 1S64. He was engaged in the battles of Baton 
Rouge, Cedar Creek, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and was mustered out of service, August 3, 1865. 

He had a large milk farm for three years, and 
was salesman for A. L. Winton for two years In 
1S70 he started a grocery business on East Main 
street, firm of Cook & Winton, later Cook & Rogers. 
In 1880 he disposed of the grocery and started a 
livery business on East Main street, and in 1885 
removed to the large and commodious stables on 
Kossuth street. Here he has a building 128 feet in 
depth, with a frontage of 60 feet, the whole airy, 
well lighted and conveniently arranged for carrying 
his large business, while the grounds connected 
with it comprise about four acres in extent. ^Ir. 
Cook makes a specialty of thoroughbreds for the 
saddle for ladies riding as well as for men. He has 
been with his saddle horses to Niantic for fifteen 
encampments, which have been ridden b}' all the 
highest officers of the State, and also by (rencral 
Miles, commander of the United States army. 
In 1892 he sent twelve horses to Chicago at the 
dedication of the World's Fair, for Governor 
Bulkeley and staff, at an expense of $1,500, which 
was paid by Governor Bulkeley personally. His 
horses have been used in Providence, New York 
and vStamford for state parades. On Grant Day 
Governor Cook and his staff were furnished with 
Mr. Cook's horses, and on all occasions they have 
eiven universal satisfaction. As the manager of 







one of Bridgeport's largest livery stables, Mr. Cook has always prided 

himself on its sanitary condition and freedom from epizootic diseases, 

but in January, 1896, the horses in his stable were suddenly attacked 

by a disease, which for violence and rapidity of results, was unparalleled 

in the annals of veterinary literatiire. On January 5 the first horse 

was attacked, and within the five following days thirty-six horses died. 

Local veterinai-ians, with those of state and national reputation, 

pronounced the disease cerebro-spinal meningitis, but none were 

willing to venture an opinion as to its source. It seemed to swoop 

down upon the stable like some of our storms from unknown regions. 

This sudden and severe loss would have disheartened a less courageous 

man, but with characteristic energy and the assistance of appreciative 

friends, the stable was quickly refitted, and within a very short time 1 . ji. .Mom.gnani. 

it was as well filled as before. He now manages one of the most prosperous livery establishments 

in the city. 





Clmiies Hartman (Uec'd). 



THE "STAXDARir^-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



179 



Mr. Cook was twice married. In 187 1 he maried Hattie Seele}-, daughter of Deacon Ebenezer 
Winton, of Easton. There were two children, Susan Louisa and Frankhn S., both located in the west. 
In 1 88 1 he married Mrs. Anna Booth Cook, b}- whom he has one son, Alexander Thompson Booth 
Cook. :Mr. Cook has always been a Repiibhcan, casting his first vote, while in the field, for Abraham 
Lincoln. He has taken no active part in pohtics, was once nominated for Alderman in the Democratic 
Si.xth Ward, and ran ahead of his ticket. He is a member of the G. A. R. 



CHARLES HARTMAN, the brewer, who died in this city, January 30, 1896, had been a resident 
of Bridgeport something above nine years. He was a native of Germany where, at Neiistadt-on-the- 
Hardt, he was born, May 11, 1844. He received his education in the public school of his birthplace, 
and at the youthful age of twelve learned 
the brewery trade. Previous to coming 
to America, in 1866, he traveled through 
his native country, visiting the largest Ger- 
man cities. On his arrival in this country, 
he was first employed at the brewery of 
Conrad Stein in West New York. Two 
years later found him at the Shutte brewery 
in Morrisania, X. V. He then returned to 
the metropolis, becoming foreman of a 
brewery there. After marrying, he was 
employed by Schmidt & Huhne, of New 
York, and later started in business for him- 
self. After conducting a saloon for some 
half dozen years, Mr. Hartman lost all his 
savings through speculation, and was com- 
pelled to begin anew at the brewery busi- 
ness, once more working his way from the 
beginning to the position of foreman. He 
was successively employed in Wilmington. 
Del., Hunsdale, Pa., Baltimore, Md.,and 
Newark, X. J., thence returning to Morris- 
ania, N. Y , he assumed control of the 
A, Hupfel & Son's brewery, which position 
he occupied for four years. 

In 1887 Mr. Hartman came to Bridge- 
port. With $9,000 he started the brewery 
on Hamilton street and built the business 
up until he was in possession of the latest 
improvements. It was with hard labor that 
he brought the firm to its present- day 
position. His application to business was 
so intense and persistent that finally, over- (ju-.., : i; ,■■-, ..n. 

estimating his strength, overwork laid him 

on his sick bed and he finally passed away. Mr. Hartman was a member of the Frcedcn, Odd Fellows, 
Knightsof Pythias, the Beyer Verein, Schutze, Gerniania and Concordia Societies, and of the Brewers' 
Association. He was married, August 28, 1872, to Susanna Maydeline Schonsiejel, by whom he had five 
children. Mr. Hartman was one of the enterprising CJermansof the city, a man who had worked his way 
up from small beginnings, step by step, until he obtained a competence. When in his last illness, his 
many friends were constant attendants at his bedside, and when borne to his final resting place he was 
followed by the largest funeral procession the Park City ever saw. Eighty carriages were in the line. 
^lany friends came from out of town to pay their final tribute to the dead, and during the funeral 
ceremony the hou.se and grounds were crowded. Over 100 floral pieces and almost as many bouquets 
testified to the place Mr. Hartman held in the hearts of those who knew him. Besides the mem- 




I So 



THE 



STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



bership of local societies who were in attendance, many delegations from out of town were 
present. 

GEORGE RANSOM OSBORN. — Biographies and histories being constantly written, brings to 
light the many families, whose genealogical tree is easily traced back through generations to that 
period, when the proud sons of Normandy, under William the Conqueror, landed on the shores of 
England, and proclaimed their hero king after the battle of Hastings. George Ransom Osborn is a 
scion of the noble family of Osborn, and was born in Humphreysville, Conn., (now Seymour), Septem. 
ber, 1831 ; and after finishing his education at his native home, went out into the world to grapple with 
that fickle dame, fortune. His was a most migratory disposition, he has lived and succeeded in 
business in a number of cities; principally. New York, Hartford, Cleveland, New Haven, Chicopee 
Falls, and Ilion, where he was a contractor at the Remington Arms Works during the war. At tlie 
outbreak of the Free vSoil agitation in Kansas, Mr. Osborn volunteered and became a member of 
Jim Lane's Free State Arm)-; after which, returning east, he accepted employment at the Remington 
Arms, leaving there to establish his own business at Chicopee Falls; and after disposing of his property 
there, came to Bridgeport as a manufacturer of bird cages; later, removing to New York, where he 

founded the Osborn Manufacturing Co. Mr. Osborn all through 
his life has been intensely patriotic; and the number of societies 
(during the war and at present) receiving his boanty will never be 
known. As a business man and gentleman, he is very much re- 
spected, both in this and other cities; notabh^ New York, where 
he founded the Osborn ]\Ianufacturing Co., tiie concern still exist- 
ing. 

He married, in 1861, Mary Clarissa Williams, who died in 
1877, leaving two boys, one of which subsequently died; the 
other, Howard Mason, is now in business with his father. As a 
second matrimonial venture, Mr. Osborn wedded, in 1880, vSaridi 
Edwin Boorman, of Chautauqua, X. Y. Mr. Osborn is a Mason 
and a member of the Knights of Honor. 

AARON W. WALLACE.— One of Bridgeport's oldest and 
most prominent residents and business men, is Aaron W. Wallace, 
who came to Bridgeport in 1852. Almost eveiy citizen of any 
age, has met and is acquainted with that gentleman's kindly 
countenance. His bakery, sitviated 173-179 State street, has 
always (since he started in that business) been a mecca for the 
Anion w. Wallace. fashionable element of the Park City inhabitants. He was born 

in the City of Yonkers, N. Y., October 13, 1S27, and received 
his education at the public schools of that town. Yonkers (not having developed into the large city it 
is to-day) was a field hardly suited to the progressive and enterprising mind of Mr. Wallace, so he 
pushed out into the world, with a good name and a little capital; and afier visiting a large number of 
places, finally settled in Bridgeport; becoming fully identified with that city's growth and industrial 
progress. His political career has been marked by a display of patriotism in the performance of his 
duties in several official city positions, and although he sacrificed a good deal of time from his biisiness, 
a call from his party was never made in vain. The positions of Member of the Council, Board of 
Taxation and Apportionment, Assessor, Grand Juror and others were all filled with the same official 
sagacity and political acumen. Mr. Wallace is Vice-President of the Bridgeport and Port Jefferson 
Steamboat Co., member of the Seaside Club, and is a vestryman of Christ Church. 

He married, December 25, 1850, i\Iartha E. Near, and is the happy father of three children. 

HORACE GRANFIELD SCOFIELD.— The subject of this sketch was for many years chief 
engineer on the New York. New Haven and Hartford Railroad, and has been City Siirveyor of Bridge- 
port for twenty-nine years. He came to the Park City from Stamford, the place of his birth, where he 
was born, March 7, 1832. His education was received at the New Canaan Academy, supplemented by 




THE 



STAXDAkTrS" HISTORY OF BRIDOEPORT. 



iSi 



four years study under private tutors while teaching. A Republican in politics, Mr. vScotield repre- 
sented the town of Stamford in the (General Assembly in the years 1867 and 186S. ( )n April 20, 1870, 
he married Miss Emma Adelia Hobbie, by whom he has had four children. 

JOHN S. CAIROLI, by profession a dentist, and a member of many fraternal organizations, was 
the son of Lazarus Cairoli, who was born in Leghorn, Italy, and became a sea captain. He was born 
in Philadelphia, August 14, 1845, where he was educated in the public schools; subsequently being 
graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. For thirty-one years he has been a resident 
of Bridgeport. He is a member of Corinthian Lodge F. and A. ^L, Jerusalem Chapter R. A. M., 
Jerusalem Council Hamilton Commandery No. 5, Knights Templars, Pyramid Temple, Order of the 
Mystic Shrine, Seaside Council, No. 709, 
Royal Arcanum, also Phoenix Council, No. 
77, Elias Howe Post, No. 3, G. A. R., and 
of the Pequonnock Lodge, L O. (). F. 

In politics he is a Republican, and is a 
member of the Plymouth Congregational 
Church of Milford, Conn. Mr. Cairoli en- 
listed in Company I., 25th New- Jersey 
Volunteers in 1863, and w'as discharged in 
June, 1864. He then joined the United 
States Navy, serving on the gunboat 
Wyanda. Mr. Cairoli's wife was Susie ^L 
Strong, the daughter of John P. Strong, 
and gianddaughter of Hon. Selah Strong, 
of Milford, Conn. Mr. Cairoli is a direct 
dc-scendent, on the maternal side, of Cap- 
tain Ilir.im Walker, of revolutionary fame 
who was wounded at the Battle of Mon- 
mouth, and whose youngest child (the 
mother of our subject) is still living in 
Camden. X. J., at the age of eighty-five. 
She recently joined the Daughters of the 
Revolution of Philadelphia; being the only 
direct descendent of a revohitionarv soldier 
in that city. 

FRANK H. jACKNLVN. D.D. S.,is 
the sim of W. H. Jackman, a prominent 
wool hat manufacturer, of Law'rence, 
Mass., in which city he was born and reared. 
He received hisearly education in the public 
schools, but in order to embrace a higher 
eilucaiion attended the Worcester Acad- n.,r;ic«; o. si-..ii,i.i. 

emy, Worcester, Mass., finally graduating 

from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, with the highest honors of his class, receiving the first 
prize and the special commendation of the Dean. Dr. Jackman began his professional career in 
Chicago, and after a successful though short stay removed to Bridgeport, becoming associated with 
Dr. C. W. Strang, finally developing a business of his own at No. 436 Main street. The family of 
Dr. Jackman is one of the oldest in New England, the church and all professions having an honored 
member in some scion of the family. Dr. Jackman, .\. ]\I. M.l)., of Clinton, Conn., is the only 
brother of our subject. 

The Doctor is considered to be a rising man in his profession, popular, handsome, accomplished 
and quite young (being onlv thirtv vears of age), and he will, no doubt, at no very distant future, 
become a leading light in dental surgery. He resides at No. 193 Fairfield avenue and is unmarried. 



w^^^^^^^^^^^^Ktj 


V ^^^^^^H 


mm 


^1 







l82 



THE ■'STANDARD'S" HIS TOR I OF BRIDGEPORT. 



C. TRYON PLATT. — The tramping of soldiers' feet at the outbreak of the late war, resounding 
through the streets of Bridgeport, was an event of grave importance to the mothers and wives of those 
men, as they marched on, perhaps to their doom, but with the consciousness that some sacrifice must 
be made in order to save the Union. The father of the subject of this sketch was one of those heroes 
who volunteered his services to his coimtry, in the Second Connecticut Light Battery, and served with 
distinction and honor. After the war he became foreman of the White Manufacturing Company, and 
married Miss A. Elizabeth Goldsmith, of New York, having a son and daughter as the result of the 
union. C. Tryon Piatt is that son ; his education was gained in the public schools of this city, finishing 
his scholastic course and not being satisfied with the trade he was learning, he entered the studio of 
Mr. Farini to learn the art of photograph}'. After devoting four years to that study he commenced 

business on his own account, and leased the 
studio at No. loo Fairfield avenue, which 
he still carries on. Mr. Piatt executes some 
very fine work, and receives more than his 
share of the city's demand in that line. He 
is the son of Norman and Eliza Piatt, and is 
unmarried, 

DR. JOHN BRIZELL, JR., of this 
city, is a son of John Brizell, a contractor of 
Liverpool, England, and was born in the 
City of Liverpool in i86c. His early educa- 
tion was gained in the private schools of 
that city, where he studied until the year 
1875. Though at a very early age he en- 
tered the office of G. Hayes, a veterinary 
surgeon (acknowleged to be the foremost 
in the country), and after serving four years 
in mastering the preliminaries of the pro- 
fession, he was admitted to the New Veter- 
inary College, Edinburgh, Scotland, the 
completion of this course occurring in 1882, 
when he received his degree of M. R. C. 
\'. S. Before sailing for the United States 
he began practicing in Liverpool, in order 
to thoroughly equip himself fur the line of 
duty he had laid out for himself in this 
country. 

Kentucky, the home of the thorough- 
bred, seemed to be a magnet that drew him 
south, but after practicing there for a num- 
ber of years, he found that to gain the repu- 
tation his talents already entitled him to, the 
Eastern States afforded the greatest oppor- 
tunity, .so with great ability as a practitioner and a stout heart, he moved his family to Bridgeport, 
Conn., and his success of the venture was soon an assured fact. Dr. Brizell, some time ago, opened 
a hospital for his veterinary work and dentistry,* attached to which is a horseshoeing shop, and it is 
considered by competent judges to be the most complete in the country. Tlie Merchants' Lodge of 
Masons, of which Dr. Brizell is a member, is presided over by H. R. H., the Prince of Wales, and on 
that account Merchants' Lodge is known in all parts of the world. He is also a member 
of Knights of Pythias, Midland Veterinary Association of England, and is an attendant of the Pres- 
byterian Church. Dr. Brizell married Robina White, of Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the happy father 
of two children. 




John S. Cairoli. 





C. Trvon Piatt, 



R.)bert Webbei- 




^ «^ 







William P. llerritt. 



Charles E. Hatch. 




THE WINDSOR HOTEL (MERRITT & HATCH, PROr'RS). 



THE '•STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRH>GErORT. 



183 



ROBERT WEBER, the present Democratic Town Clerk of Bridgeport, was a native of Wuerttem- 
berg, Germany, where he was born, November 19, 1851. His education was received at Koenigebronn 
and Heidenheim. For twent)--five years he has been a resident of the Park City, and is a member of 
several of the local German Societies, Schwaben Verein, Turn Verein, Schuetzen Verein, the Arion 
Singing Society, besides the B. P. O. E. Elks, U. O. R. Men, Knights of Pythias, Park City Athletic 
Club, and the Order of Seven Wise Men. In :88i Mr. Weber was elected a Councilman from the old 
sixth ward, and in 1884-85 and 1887 was Selectman. At the last local election he was elected Town 
Clerk by a majority of 795. Mr. AVeber was married, February 3, 1S74, to Miss L. W. Koehler. They 
have had five children, all living. 



SWAN benja:\iin BREWSTE 

younger element of business men has t 
as the years have passed by, from 
the city's betterment, to those bct- 
Of this younger element, the 
niin Brewster, is well known. He 
Canaan, in this state. His cduca- 
University, at Bloomingtnn. 111., and 
he took up his resi- 
Mr. Brewster opcn- 
.State street in 1884, 
mo v c d to the 
Main street, and 
in that building, 
ness in the Arcade 
sold out, and went 
business, in which 
Mr. Brewsicr has 
as an honorable, 
ing business man, 
and holds hosts of 
mirable personal qualities. He is a 
the ^lasonic Fraternity, and is a 
has been twice married. His first 
of Marcus and Julia H. Nichols, to 
14, 1888, one child being the issue, 
died ^larch, 1891. Mr. Brewster's 
Tomlinson Meeker, granddaughter 
have one child, a daughter, born 



R. — In the rapid development and growth of the Park City, the 
akcn no small part, the weight of responsibility has been shifted 
the pioneers who struggled hard for 
ter able to bear the burden, 
subject of this sketch, Swan Benja- 
was born in Falls Village, Town of 
tion was received at the Wesleyan 
n completing his scholastic course, 
dence in this city, 
ed an art store on 
subs e q u e n 1 1 y 
Bishop Block, on 
after the changes 
continued the busi- 
until 1895, when he 
into the real estate 
he is n(jw engaged, 
always been known 
fair, and enterpris- 
and he has made 
friends by his ad- 
member of the Episcopal Church, of 
Democrat in politics. Mr. Brewster 
wife was Lizzie H. Nichols, daughter 
whom he was married, November 
Both Mrs. Brewster and her child 
second marriage was with Sally 
of the late Fenlon Hubbell. They 
^lay 1, 1897. 




Frank H. Jack 



HORACE HARTON JACKSON, proprietor of the well known book and stationery store on 
Main street has been a resident of the Park City for more than two decades. He is a native of 
Yonkers, New York, where he was born on the i6th of November, 1863. His education was received 
in the public schools of Middleport, Ohio, and Bridgeport. Mr. Jackson is a member of several of the 
well known clubs and fraternal organizations of Bridgeport, including the Seaside, Contemporary, 
Country and Bridgeport Yacht Clubs, Pequonnock Lodge No. 4, L. O. O. F., the Improved Order of 
Red Men and the Ancient Essenic Order, Stratfield Encampment No. 23, I. O. O. I". 



WILLIA:\I PLATT MERRITT was born in New York City, February 12, 1857, and received 
his education in the public schools of that city. 

His geniality being so well known, it was suggested that the hotel business was his forte, and 
after adopting the advice of his friends, became Room Clerk of the Grand Union Hotel, New York. 

During his occupany of that position he saw the house grow larger and larger; wing after wing 



,84 



THE '-STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRHHM-J'ORT. 



being- added, and it was no doubt due (at least in part) to Mr, Merritt that those great results were 
attained. 

After thirteen years' service Mr. ]\Ierritt retired from the (irand Union, and in company with 
Charles E. Hatch, acquired the Windsor Motel, this city, which no doubt shelters the large majority 
of travelers coming here. 

Air. Merritt was wedded in 1S90 to Elizabeth Edmonds, of New York City, one s(.)n being the 
result of the union. 

Mr. Merritt can no doubt claim the distinction of being the only representative of the famous 
Seventh Regiment of New York in this city, whose membership contains the flower of the refined 
manhood of the Empire City, including tlie scions of its wealthiest families. 

CHARLES EDWIN HATCH was born in the City of New York, Novembers, 1841, in which 
city he spent most of the earlier years of his life. Educated in the public schools and Free Academy 

of New York, entering into mercantile life until the 
breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the 
83d N. Y. Vols., for three years, returning entered 
the hotel business, and in 1S86 was called to open 
and manage the Hotel Russwin, in New Britain, 
which he did successfully, the Russwin having the 
reputation of being one of the best and neatest 
kept hotels in New England. Coming to Bridgeport 
in 1S95 he bought out one-half interest in the Hotel 
Windsor of this city, and its present popularity is 
due to the great popularity of Mr. Hatch and his 
associate, Mr. Merritt, their long experience in the 
business giving them a thorough knowledge of the 
wants of the traveling public. Mr. Hatch is a 
thirty-second degree Mason, Knight Templar, 
Shriner, and a member of the Putnam Phalanx (one 
of the oldest military social organizations in the 
country, and composed of very prominent citizens 
of Connecticut), also a member of the Royal 
Arcanum and several other fraternal societies. He 
married for his wife and helpmate through life 
Catharine E. Barnes, of Amagansett, Long Island, 
on October 30, 1S70. who. on her mother's side, is a 
blood relation of the famous Senator Roscoe Conklin. 
During their happy married life they have had born 
ti) them one son, now deceased. 

i;eorge H. T. Wallis. 

TIMOTHY J. MURPHY, though one of our 
prominent citizens of the younger element, has led a very uneventful life. Born in Cork, Ireland, 
March 4, i860, he left his native country in order to seek that will o' the wisp, fortune, in the Western 
Hemisphere. He landed in New York in 1879 (^ sturdy specimen of manhood), and after spending a 
year in that Cosmopolitan city went to Springfield, Mass., and in 1888 came to Bridgeport. 

Timothy J. Murphy has by dint of energy and the foresight to grasp opportunities succeeded in 
building up a successful business, and at the same time to gain the esteem of all. Col. Murphy is a 
member of the A. O. H., K. of P., K. of C, A. O. F. of A., K. of G. E., Emmet Club, Elks, etc., 
N. E. O. P., and is the Commander of the First Regiment, H. R. of this state. He married, January, 
1893, Catherine '\l. Crowley, by whom he has two L-hildren. 




CiEORGE H. T. WALLLS was born in Birmingham, England, February 5, 1859, and received 
his education in that city. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to A. P^mbery, one of the 
principal Art Dealers in England, and at the close of his apprenticeship was tendered a certificate of 




C.lonel Timulhy J. llurplr 




John Brizell, V. S. 



Till- '■STAXDARjrS" HISTORY OF I;RII)(U:I'0RT. 



proficiency in the different branches of that business. Coming- to this country in iS86 Mr. Walhs 

came to Bridjreijort and entered the .service of J. H. Scully, continuing- under him until 1896, when he 

succeeded that gentlenian as owner of the art establishnient on State street. Scully's art store is 

very well known to the people of this city and the 

woi'k of ;\Ir. ^\'alIis has been highly commended. 

The great love of everything- artistic has been the 

means of making his success permanent, and the 

thorough knowledge acquired by his earl)- training 

has enabled him to restore to their original condi 

lion many valuable objects of art whose beaut\- 

had been dimmed by time, accident and various 

other causes. Mr. Wallis is married and has two 

children. 

\V1LLI.\M SUMX1':R IU'LLARD.— Willi, mi 

.Sumner lUillard, who lias resided in the City '<: 

Uridgeport for nine years, has had a very variel 

experience. Sutton, Mass., was the place, when- 

on the iith day of September, 1844, he first saw 

the light, but it was in the town of Lenox th it 

he received his education, until September, i860. 

when his father moved to Peekskill, N. Y., hciv 

his studies were continued under private tutor, 

preparing for West Point or Annapolis Nav;il 

Academy, that being his ambition, but when the 

call to arms was made at the outbreak of the lair 

war, he dropped studies and at once volunteered 

to serve in the interest of his country. He wert 

to the front, February 12, 1862, as a member of the 

United States Sanitary Commission, and after the '••^"^m^- i--. I'.eits 

cipitulation of New Orleans, November, 1863, he was appointed to take charge of the Soldiers' 

Home, New Orleans, where the work of the United States Sanitary l^ommission was commended bv 

the whole world. At the close of the war. September, 1865, Mr. BuUard was relieved of his post and 

mustered out with the rank of Major. The succeeding two years 
was spent in the study of medicine, but as that profession did 
not suit his inclination, he tcok up the trade of iron moulding, 
later having contract to make all the castings of the Mutual Gas 
Works of New York City. Of his later life he is best known as 
(ieneral Contractor in Paving and Roofing, and an Entomologist. 
The Elm Leaf Beetle (Galerucella lutcola) proving very destructive 
to the beautiful elm trees here and elsewhere, he devised a 
plan whereby the insect might be destroyed. That he .succeeded 
is attested by the fact that in March, 1896, he was commended 
by the Agricultural Department of the United States Government, 
and his plan given ofificial authority. His first wife was Hannah 
Kettlewell, by whom he had three sons. After her death he 
married Ella Belcher, one daughter being the result of the union. 
In politics Jlr. liullard is a Republican. Christ Church claims 
him as a member, also the Association of Economic Ento- 
mologist. 

I'REDERICK C. MULLIXS has had the distinction of 
holding the important position of City Clerk of Bridgeport for 
cisiht vears. and of having been re-elected for another two-vear 





i86 



THE -STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



term at the last local election. He is a native of the city, beint;- born in 1863, was educated here, and 
has always made it his home. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Foresters of 
America, the Arion Society, the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division No. 2, Camp Uncas, the 
American Federation of Wheelmen, and Park City Yacht Club. Mr. Mullins was married, September 

5, 1888, to Mary E. Johnson, of Bridegeport. He 
is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. 

HENRY O. CANFIELD is a manufacturer 
of rubber goods. He was born in Naugatuck, 
November 9, 1847, where he attended the public 
schools, further extending his education in French 
and German schools. He has resided in Bridge- 
port for some dozen years. He is a member of the 
Seaside and Algonquin Cltabs, and also the Masonic 
Orders. April 17, 1873, he married Miss Emmagene 
C. Freshhour, by whom he has had three sons. 
He is a Republican in politics. 

SIEGMUND KUPFER was born at Althutte, 
Bohemia, Austria, where he received an education 
in a polytechnical school. For the past twenty-three 
years he has resided in Bridgeport, where he is 
highly esteemed and respected. Mr. Kupfer was 
formerly a wine merchant. In 1866 he became a 
traveling salesman, a position he continued to fill 
iintil 1893. He afterward became Assistant Tax 
Collector, having- held that position for four years, 
his term expiring in April, 1897. He is at present 
a Justice of the Peace, he having recently been 
elected for a term of two years. On Alay 10, 1868, 
Mr. Kupfer married Aliss Anna Block, of New 
York City. Five children have blessed the union ; 
one, a daughter, is married to Mr. Edward Epstein, of New York City. 

ANDREW RADEL.— To President Andrew Radel, of the 
Traction Company, is due more than to anyone else, the fact that 
the people of Bridgeport to-day enjoy better facilities for street 
car travel than are to be found in any other city of the same size 
in the country. Mr. Radel is a man of experience in the building 
and management of street railways, and under his direction the 
local system was transformed from its old and antiquated form to 
its present convenient and well handled condition. 

Andrew Radel was born in Newark, N. J., March 2, 1S62, 
and after completing his common school education, spent two 
years at vSt. Benedict's College. He is the son of the late John 
Radel. When he was sixteen years of age his father purchased 
the Newark and South Orange Street Railway, which was in the 
hands of a receiver, and generally considered to be absolutely 
valueless. For it he paid $35,000, or rather agreed to pay that 
sum, being given ten years in which to do so. Its length was 
but seven miles, and its equipment was meagre and the patronage 
was very small. 

Mr. Radel, senior, was engaged in the grocery business, 
to which all his time was devoted, and he soon placed the siegmund Kupfe 





THE ''STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



i87 



ninning of the road in the hands of his son. The latter soon showed that he possessed the ability 
to carry out the task, and almost before it could be realized by competing lines, a franchise had been 
secured for the extension of the line four miles into a well peopled and prosperous section of countrvi 

Immediately there was a change in its affairs, and it soon became a paving investment. In seven 
vcars the entire purchase price had been 
earned over and above expen.ses, great im- 
provements had been made, and the road 
was paying a handsome percentage. 

In 1892 it was sold by Mr. Radel to the 
present owners, he securing a large .share 
of the stock of the new company. Imme- 
diately afterward, under the supervision of 
Andrew Radel, it was equipped with clec- 
tricit}', the work being done in record 
breaking time, and with a celerity that 
won new laurels for the manager. 

When the syndicate controlling the 
company decided to take possession of the 
system in this city, Mr. Radel was natur- 
ally selected for the position of Superin- 
tendent and General Manager, and under 
his direction the line was ec[uipped wiin 
electricity, extended, and a new and con- 
venient service put in operation. U]5<>n 
the work he has accomplished, coniniei t 
is unnecessary, for all know and appreciate 
the advantage of the present service, under 
which all points of tlic city are reached 
easily and quickly. 

Mr. Radel is now not only President of 
the Bridgeport Traction Company, but a 
Director of the Newark and South Orange 
Traction Company and Vice-President of 
the New Brunswick Traction Company. 
Of the latter he was the organizer, and in 
it is associated with many of the most 
prominent men of that section of New Andrew Radei. 

Jersey. 

While prominent in politics in his former home, having served as an Alderman and refused other 
positions, i\Ir. Radel has not entered actively into politics in this city. On the other hand he has 
preferred to devote himself entirely to business. His home is on Park avenue, not far from Seaside 
Park, and there it is that he delights to spend all the leisure moments which he is able to snatch from 
a busy life. 




CHAPTER XXIV. 

manufacturin(t and commercial interests. 

T^HIi UNIUX METALLIC CARTRIDCiE COMPANY.— To write of this celebrated institmiun, 
' for its worli is based on such scientific principles, and its reputation is so far reaching, that 
•' institution " better expresses its character than does the word factor}-, appears to be carrying- coals 
to Newcastle. Whoever owns a firearm, be it the monster gun representing a great government, 
or the pistol of private pocket size, possesses also some of the product of the Union Metallic Cartridge 
Company. Established in 1866, and incorporated in 1867, the works have grown until they now cover 
three entire blocks in Bridgeport; the buildings and the 1,100 employes forming a little city of their 
own. vSome idea of the space required for the mechanical operations of this company may be formed 
with the knowledge that it will take three hours to obtain even a casual glance of the machinery used 
in manufacture and a busy month to gain understanding of its uses. 

()f this machiner)- a volume could be written ; much of it has no precedent, it can scarcely be 
said to have been made. It has grown in the brain and hearts of the business giants who have 
demanded its appearance; compelling circumstances caused by scientific revelations, having called for 
almnst human apparatus to fulfill certain duties, and perfected knowledge has surmounted all 
ditificulties. Many of the machines belonging to the Union Metallic Cartridge Company have no 
duplicates in the world. The influence of this wonderful organization extends to every clime and its 
wares are called for in everv language. In its Bridgeport home the company has a foundation of 
peculiar honor. During the great financial depression lasting from 1873 to 1877, it was the principal 
industr}' of the city, and its every obligation was fulfilled. In the more recent hard times it has been 
the aim and pleasure of its directors to keep the wolf far from the door of its emphn'es. The 
working inhabitants of its domain are indeed fortunate. 

Financially the company is as strong as mechanically it is great. The words of its controller is as 
good as a payment made in gold. As the signature of its Treasurer is taken for full value in all 
money markets of the world, so the trade mark, L^. M. C, on its products signifies superiority. For 
the manufacture of ammunition in all its various uses, the Union ^Metallic Cartridge Company's works 
are the largest in existence. Cartridges, caps, wadding and shells for every variety of pistol, gun or 
cannon, are made there and so close is the inspection of the work that of all the millions of pieces of 
ammunition that are sold and shipped not a single cartridge leaves the factory that is not practically 
perfect. " That is not a boast," said one of the officials of the company to the writer, " it is a fact." 

i\Iechanical genius has always been a part of the LTnion Metallic Cartridge Compan}- and Mr. 
A. C. Hobbs, the first Superintendent (now deceased) will be remembered for his great ability and as 
the celebrated " Lock expert," who at the exhibition of 1851, in London, opened all the locks of Eng- 
lish manufacture. The son of Mr. Hobbs became successor to his father's chair and may now be found 
in general management of the works. The company is officered as follows: President and Treasurer, 
Mr. M. Hartley, New York; Vice-President, Mr. W. J. Bruff, New York; Secretary, Mr. M. Graham, 
New York; General Manager, Mr. A. J. Hobbs, Bridgeport; Superintendent, Mr. Jerome Orcutt. The 
larger number of these gentlemen have given more than a cpiarter of a century to the development of 
the business. 

A 500 horse power engine drives the ^iletallic Cartridge Department proper, and an auxiliary 
engine of 250 horsepower stands ready to increase the efficiency at any moment. Electrical generators 
of 400 horse power supply fourteen motors to drive the machinery in the departments where paper shells 
(for shot guns), primers, caps and gun wads are made. In a large independent building, immense hydrau- 
lic draw benches and presses are in operation for the construction of solid drawn brass cartiidge cases in 
calibres ranging from one inch up to six inches, used in United States Army and Navy Rapid Firing Guns. 



THE "STAXDARirS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 189 

THE HOLMES & EDWARDS SILVER COMPANY, situated on the line of the N. Y., N. H. 
and H. R. R. Co., the main thoroughfare from New York to Boston, presents to the traveler an idea of 
the pro;^ressive industrial conditions of Bridgeport, Conn. The company is incorporated under the 
laws of Connecticut with $400,000 capital, George C. Edwards, President; John Cummings, Secretary. 
A glance at the illustration of factory buildings shows the progress made from 1882 to 1897, the 
capacity of the works having more than quadrupled in this time, and it is safe to say that they are the 
largest manufacturers of table flatware in the world, as it may be noticed that their output is confined 
to this class of goods. The company point with pride to the record of these years, and find it due to 
the uniformity of the quality and finish upon which the reputation of the house has been established. 
December 9, 1884, and March 2, 1886, United States patents were issued on the process of inlaying in 
the back of the bowls and handles of spoons and forks, pieces of sterling silver. This quality of spoons 
and forks gives to the world the value of sterling silver at less than half the cost of desirable .solid goods, 
furthermore they are guaranteed by the Holmes & Edwards Silver Company for a period of twenty-five 
years in ordinary family use. While the Sterling Inlaid goods have been presented as the leading 
feature of this company's business they are not confined in any way to one article of manufacture, as 
everything that can be made in silver plated flatware is manufactured by them, which inchides Spoons, 
Forks, Knives, Ladles, Tongs, Servers, etc. One chief quality of plate on which the company has 
laid a great deal of emphasis, and which has been very well received by all their trade, is what is 
known as the extra sectional quality which is known by the trade mark " Holmes & Edwards XIV." 
This e.xtra sectional quality means that an extra deposit is placed on the back of the bowl and handle 
as indicating the points at which the silver is most easily worn off. They also make all qualities of 
silver plate, as well as a full line of solid metal spoons and forks in Mexican Silver, Aztec Coin Metal, 
(ierman and Nickel Silver. They are represented by salesrooms in New York, Chicago, St. Louis 
and San Francisco. 

THEBRIDCEPORTCHAINCOMPANY.— This company carries the name of Bridgeport through 
twenty-five or thirty states of the union, to Europe, Australia and remote South Africa. As its title 
suggests, the manufacture of chains is its line of work, but it remains for the product itself to tell the 
st(jry of superior workmanship. Indeed, nothing else could be expected to give a world wide reputa- 
tion to a manufacturing establishment. The Bridgeport Chain Company wasestablished in the year 1887. 
It lias won success by not only producing something which is wanted, but making that something of a 
high standard of excellence. It is no small honor, and a fact that this company may point to with 
justly //iiroHCfdfd \mde, that the only medal awarded on chains at the World's Columbian Exposition 
in 1893, was won by two of the Bridgeport Chain Company's productions; on its " Triumph" chain and 
its plumbers' and sash chains. The "Triumph," the " Brown " and the "Perfection " are the special 
manufactures of this company. These chains are made by special machinery, and the feature of them 
is their links of twisted joints, obviating the necessity of welding. This absence of welding enables 
almost the complete original strength of the whole metal area to be maintained. Of course, the gist 
of the inventions lies in the machines, which are able to bring such creations into being. The strength 
of a chain is measured by its weakest link. The Bridgeport Chain Company evidently intends to have 
no weak links, cither in its chains or in its business. 

Till': CANFIELD RUBBER COMPANY.— To be the manufacturers of an article which is sold 
throughout the civilized world, and has carried the name and fame of Bridgeport with it, is an honor 
of no small magnitude. To put this one article upon the market in such enormous quantities that the 
sales exceed the huge sum of $1,000,000 annually, adds to the honor and compels a profound respect 
for the industrial enterprise of the projectors. 

The output of the Canfield Rubber Company consists entirely of their celebrated dress shield. It 
seems almost incredible that the demand for such an article should reach such proportions as to warrant 
the employment of many expert operatives and the turningout of the enormous number of 5,000,000 pairs 
of this simple contrivance annually. Yet that such is the case, the business of the Canfield Rubber 
Company otifers proof. Nor is this all. The manufacture and sale of this contrivance in such proportions 
has called for an imposing four story brick structure covering a large area of ground and the equip- 
ment of it with the latest appliances and special machinery necessary to that end. It has called for 



I90 THE "STANDARDS- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

the maintenance of branch offices in several great cities of the world, New York, London, Paris, 
Vienna and Hamburg. 

The Canfield Rubber Compan}' was incorporated in the year 1882 with a paid up capital of $250,000. 
The dress shield which has become so widely known is the invention of the late Jared H. Canfield, a 
man who was always identified with the rubber business, and who was thoroughly posted in every 
detail of that important industry. For several years he spent his time in France, introducing patents 
in rubber goods. On his return to the United States, he invented the celebrated dress shield, which 
has made his name so widely known. The present officers of the company are: Ratcliffe Hicks 
President; Frank N. Benham, Vice-President; Charles F. Holcomb, Secretary and Treasurer. 

THE CITIZENS' GAS COMPANY.— The largest plant for the manufacture and distribution of 
pure gas for fuel purposes in the world is located on Cedar Creek in the southern part of Bridgeport. 
This extensive establishment is the property of the Citizens' Gas Company, one of the later acquisi- 
tions of the city, and notwithstanding that it began business in Bridgeport less than two years ago, it 
is now enjoying a rapidly increasing business in supplying its customers with gas for power and 
domestic purposes. As speedily as possible its mains are being extended to all parts of the city, and 
in this capacity several hundred men are employed. The Citizens' Gas Company was incorporated in 
1885, locating in Bridgeport in August, 1895. Its offices are at present located in the Masonic Build- 
ing, on Broad street. A visit to its plant at Cedar Creek reveals the extent to which the business is 
now expected to be carried on in the future. Its l^uildings are iron throughout. They consist of a 
generator house two stories in height, 135x45 feet. In this building are eight gas generators nine 
feet in diameter by fifteen feet in height, each pair being connected to a vertical tubular boiler, 
six feet in diameter by twenty-three feet in height. The scrubber room is 22x45 feet, and contains 
two producer gas scrubbers 8x27 feet, and two cast iron producer gas condensers 6x10x20 feet, 
and two water gas scrubbers, 7x27 feet. In the exhauster and engine room, which is 34x45 feet, are 
two No. 10 and two No. 8 Root gas exhausters driven by direct connected engines and one Sturtevant 
gas exhauster. The boiler room is 45x34 feet, and contains two Cahall boilers, one of 180 horse 
power, which is gas fired, and one of 150 horse-power, which is coal fired. 

The meter and valve room contains one fourteen-foot station meter, made by the Maryland Meter 
and Manufacturing Company, and two Connelly gas governors, with the necessary valves for distrib- 
uting the gas. The purifying house, 120x60 feet, contains four purifiers twenty-four feet square. 

Three lines of main lead from the works: One twenty-inch low pressure, supplying the resident 
part of the city. One twenty-inch high pressure line supplies part of the manufacturing industries. 

The size of the pipes is from twenty to eight inches diameter, and is ample for the heaviest con- 
sumption that it will be called upon to deliver in the most severe winter weather. The true value of 
fuel gas for domestic purposes is coming to be known, and the nature of the company's product is such 
that for light, quick work it is cheaper than coal. Added to its utility for cooking, its numerous 
advantages over a coal fire make it a desirable heating agent. The convenience and economy of gas 
used for power is also beyond the experimental period. Its product is used by some of the largest 
manufacturing establishments in Bridgeport. 

The capacity of the Citizens' Gas Company's plant is 3,000,000 cubic feet per day, with ample 
provisions for future growth. The gas is manufactured by the new Loomis process. In addition to 
the making of fuel gas, the company carries a large line of cooking and heating stoves, engines and 
gas appliances of all kinds. The officers of the company are : President, Charles F. Dieterich, New 
York; Vice-President, James Staples, Bridgeport; Secretary and Treasurer, A. B. Proal, New York; 
General Manager, Burdette Loomis, Hartford; Assistant Manager, Charles D. Woodruff, Bridgeport. 

THE BRIDGEPORT GAS LIGHT COMPANY has been doing business in the Park City for 
almost half a century. Incorporated in the year 1849, it has been brought to its present standing and 
usefulness by the industry and wise judgment of its management, and to-day occupies a strong position 
among the city's financial interests. Messrs. William R. Higby, President; F. B. Sammis, Secretary 
and Treasurer; Charles A. Gerdenier, Superintendent, and Samiiel C. Trubee, William B. Hincks, 
William D. Bishop, A. J. Hobbs, E. G. Burnham, Moms B. Beardsley, N. W. Bishop and H. F. 
Greenman, its Directory, are gentlemen whose reputation is a guarantee for the faithful performance 



THE -STAXDARryS'- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



191 



of tlie responsible positions which they occupy in the community. The original cost of gas was $5 
per thousand cubic feet; now it is $1.25, with liberal discount to large consumers, which places Bridge- 
port on the same basis that other large New England cities enjoy. Besides the manufacture and 
distribution of gas for illuminating purposes, this company has taken advantage of the increasing 
knowledge of the convenience and adaptibility of gas for heating and cooking purposes, by carrying 
a large stock of heaters and ranges. Manufacturers and families now appreciate the use of gas, and 
its consumption is steadily growing. For braizing and annealing purposes it is said to be unsurpassed. 
By means of atmospheric burners attached to the ranges and stoves sold by the company, a proportion 
of about two-thirds air is combined with the illuminating gas, making the blue flame, the finest quality 
of fuel gas, with intense heat. Mr. Charles A. Gerdenier has been vSuperintendent of the company for 
the past thirty-three years. The capital stock of the company was $75,000 when organized. Its 
enormous growth of business is evidenced by the fact that the capital stock has been increased to 




$300,000. The original inccjrporators of the company were: W. P. Burrall, R. B. Mason, Russell 
Tomlinson, E. C. Calhoun, Hanford Lyon, H. K. Harrall, C. B. Dungan, H. B. Stevens and 
H. G. Ludlow. Its first President was H. K. Harrall. Those who have since filled that position are: 
Hanford Lyon, Amos S. Treat and its present incumbent, W. R. Higby. The quality of both illumin- 
ating and fuel gas manufactured by the Bridgeport Gas Light Company compares favorably with 
any manufactured in the world, it being made from the best English Canne land 'Westmoreland coal, 
and is necessarily a pure coal gas. 



THE BRIDGEPORT CRUCIBLE COMPANY was organized and incorporated under the state 
laws in 18S7 as a joint stock corporation. A very valuable site was secured upon Knowlton street, the 
property having a frontage of 310 feet upon the harbor line. In 1893 the original factory, which then 
covered quite a space of ground, was destroyed by fire, and upon its embers was erected the very 
large plant that is seen far and near to-day. The new factory has a much greater capacity than the 
old one, yet the demand in the markets of the world for their products have entirely outgrown it. 



192 



THE ''STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



The depressed financial times of the past few years have entirely passed the company by, and the 
wonderful output of crucibles, Climax furnace clay, Champion store clay, etc., have not been lessened. 
Europeans were for years highly prejudiced against all American manufactured articles, but the last few 
years, with our wonderful facilities of turning oiit machinery, and the inventive genius of the sons of 
the country, we are enabled (with the assistance of such enterprising concerns as the Bridgeport 
Crucible Company), to command a fair share of trade in their markets. The company whose name 
heads this article has selling agents who travel and sell their products through Europe, which consists 
of (inclusive of the above-mentioned articles), bicycle chain graphite lubricant, ground and prepared 
plumbago and graphite in all forms. There is no doubt that the Bridgeport Crucible Company has 
the most complete and economical plant for the manufacture of crucibles and all the allied products. 

Mr. E. G. Burnham is the President of the company, with Mr. W. T. McFarlane as Treasurer 
and General Manager, and it is due to these gentlemen to say, that in the history of Bridgeport there 
is no corporation that has done more to create the vast growth of our industries which has made our 
city a successful manufacturing center. 



WHEELER & HOWES. — This firm, composed of John M. AVheeler and William T. Howes, 
stands at the front of its line of business in the New England states. Its proprietors, men of ability, 

enterprise and integrity, are num- 
bered among the representative men 
of the Park City. Wheeler 8z Howes 
are wholesale and retail dealers in 
coal, flour and feed, mason's building 
material, blue stone, drain pipe and 
fertilizers of every kind. For more 
than thirty years this firm has con- 
ducted business, and the extent of 
their operations becomes readily 
luanifest, when it is understood that 
their plant covers three acres of 
groimd. Their warehouses, im- 
mense coal chutes, excellently ap- 
pointed oflSces, etc., give some idea 
of the comprehensive character of 
their trade — a trade which extends 
through all parts of Bridgeport and 
surrounding localities. The firm's 
coal yards lie at the junction of 
Sterling and Noble streets, with a 
large river frontage to furnish dock 
facilities, while a four-stor}- brick 
structure at Knowlton and Crescent streets is used for grain, flour, building materials, etc. Besides 
these, a branch office is located at No. 336 Main street. The specialty by the house is coal. The 
different departments of the business call for the employment of perhaps a half a hundred men, and 
the firm's annual sales reach very large proportions. While Messrs. Wheeler & Howes have given 
so much abiUty and enterprise to the buiding up of this extensive business, their liberality of view 
has made them mindful of the city's interest as well, and whatever tends to promote its welfare finds 
them readv to assist. 




W. F. SWORDS LUMBER COMPANY.— All that the lumber trade implies is to be found at 
the immense establishment of the W. F. Swords Lumber Company. Seven acres of ground are covered 
by the mills, storehouses and piles of lumber, that await either sale or manufacture by this perfectly 
equipped organization. More than 50,000 superficial square feet of mill floors are crowded by 
machines and material pertaining to the building trade, and about 150 employes are steadily engaged 
in the manufacture of the various articles that construction calls for. A thousand feet of river front 



THE -'STAXDARirS" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



193 



furnishes dock room for seven vessels, and their railroad frontage and private switch lines, permit the 
unloading- of ten cars per day; 5,000,000 feet of lumber forms only a common stock on hand, embrac- 
ing white and yellow pine, spruce, hemlock, ask, oak and cherry, while the mills are ready to furnish 
to immediate order, every kind of plain or fancy, soft or hard wood work that is used for building 
purposes. 

Two engines, aggregating 300 horse power, drive machinery of the latest designs and patents, and 
if there is one single thing wanting to make the establishment the most complete in the eastern country, 
the Swords Lumber Company does not know it. The manufacture of boxes is a particular industry 
of one of the mills ; almost every make of box is put together, while one looks at it. Special machinery 
makes dove-tailed or lock cornered boxes, and the output averages 3,000 a day. Other manufactured 
products are doors, sash, mouldings of every variety, mantles, and cabinet work generally. The 
shavings from the planing mill are separated from the sawdust by machinery, and one-half of the 
quantity collected is blown through. pipes directly in the engine furnaces, the other half is compressed 
into bales of 100 pounds each, and sold. An idea of the power used in the compress of the shavings. 




EsUblislimeiit of the The W. F. Swords Lumber Company. 

may be formed by knowing that a bale of them measuring only 20x20 inches by three feet, will, on 
cutting the wire by which the bale is formed, completely fill an average size one-horse wagon. 

The various labor-saving, and speedily producing machines that are employed, represent vast 
capital, and command the greatest interest. Everythingthat cabinetwork and carpenteringskilldemands 
is to be found. The builders' needs, from foundation to the finish of the roof, is either in stock or will 
be immediately manufactured from drawings or estimates. The buildings and yards are filled by 
prosperous looking workmen, and from draughtsmen to boys tending automatic wonders every one is 
busy. The company's facilities and connections are of an influential character, enabling it to offer 
special advantages to builders, contractors and dealers, and to fill orders at lowest market rates in a 
prompt and satisfactory manner. The equipment is one that is prepared to handle the largest con- 
tracts, and all work done is characterized by its excellent workmanship and high class materials. 

A company's success unquestionably lies in the complete knowledge of all details and processes 
possessed by it's officers, and in this particular the Swords Lumber Company is especially fortunate. 
The officers of the company are: Mr. John V. Giles, President; J. A. Aitchison, Secretary; E. D. 
Alvord, Treasurer. Mr. Bassett is no longer associated with this company. 



194 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



THE ARMSTRONG MANUFACTURING COMPANY.— A three-story biiildino;, 150x40 feet, 
with every square foot of working surface covered with the most costly and perfect implements of 
mechanical invention— such is the plant of the Armstrong Manufacturing Company, a concern to 
which the attention of the leading mechanics has been attracted by the excellence of the work pro- 
duced. Among the many of Bridgeport's enterprises, the Armstrong Company is accorded a high 
place. Search the kits of first-class steam and gas fitters throughout the world, there will be found 
some of this firm's handiwork. Their stocks and dies have a record for superiority, while especial 
attention may be drawn to their pipe threading and cutting off machines. 

This business was established in the year 1870 by the late Mr. F. Armstrong. The original 
factory was located at Noble avenue and Steriing street. Success brought new obligations and the 
paraphernalia required to keep step with the trade offered, compelled the present plant on Knowlton 
street. About 1885 the present company was incorporated with Mr. Armstrong as its President. 
Later Mr. C. H. Armstrong became its Secretary and Treasurer, and still more recently he assumed 
the added duty of General Manager. Having grown up with the business, there is no one more 
capable than he to direct its affairs. The machines spoken of above for threading and cutting off pipe, 
have, of course, only been brought to their present state of excellence by many experiments and much 

study. They are made for hand 
or power, and like the well-known 
stocks and dies, are constructed 
with a view to the saving of time 
and labor. With them it is poss- 
ible to cut off and th read pipe from 
one to six inches inclusive, the 
threading process requiring only a 
matter of a few moments time. It 
is claimed for these machines that 
they will do the work more easily 
and rapidly than any on the mar- 
ket. Cutting off pipe with them 
is accomplished by means of a 
newly patented automatic attach- 
ment, and they are so arranged 
that the dies open to allow the 
material to pass through without 
removing it from the machines; 
and this by a simple motion of a 
hand-wheel or lever. Besides these 
machines and devices mentioned, 
the Armstrongs are the manufacturers of elastic suspenders, armlets, garters, and special spiral 
spring buckles. These have been on the market for years, and are acknowledged of standard quality. 

THE GEORGE W. LONGSTAFF COMPANY.— Study the character of the work which a 
business firm accomplishes if you would get at the secret of its success. Mere words can merely tell 
of they cannot prove ability. This is exemplified in something far more subtle than speech. 1 ublic 
patronage is a pretty sure criterion of public confidence. Work which will not stand the test is sooner 
or later rejected, and the firm producing it meets its well-earned execration. 

Take a survey of the City of Bridgeport. Learn who constructed this building and that ; then let 
judgment be given without fear or prejudice. 

Some dozen years ago the firm of Longstaff & Hurd, contractors and builders, came into 
existence, but was borne down in the recent financial crisis. It was in March, 1895, that the 
present organization of George W. Longstaff & Company, was incorporated, with a capital 
stock of $10,000. Since its foundation, this firm has executed work of which it may well 
be proud. The Barnum Historical Institute, the Sanford Office Building, that splendid structure on 
Main street, the Barnum Block, and the recently constructed and extensive plant of the Wilmot & 




of The .\rmstrong Manulactur 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



195 



Hobbs Manufacturing Company are buildings which bear testimon}- to the style of work to which this 
firm has devoted its attention. Expert workmen, excellent material, fineness of handicraft, tell 
the story. 

A three-story brick structure has been filled throughout with machinery and appliances, and here 
everything in the line of building and cabinet work is manufactured. Complete facilities make it 
possible to imdertake work on the largest scale. The contracts executed show these men to be masters 
of their undertakings. 

Mr. George W. Longstaff, President of the company, has been a resident of Bridgeport for many 
years. Besides his devotion to business, he has found opportunity to take part in affairs of a public 
nature, and is accounted one of the city's most influential citizens. Deeply interested in its Municipal 
Government, he has been a staunch supporter of every project tending toward its advancement. 
Politically he has served upon the Board of Aldermen, and is an ex-member of the State Committee. 

Besides being familiar with the details of the contracting business, Mr. Longstaff is an architect 
of high standing, and some years ago practiced this profession. Several fine churches built, not 
designed, and the Hanover Insurance Building in New York City, were of his design. He likewise 
designed the Arcade, the Barnum Monu- 
ment at Seaside Park, the Barnum His- 
torical and Scientific Building, and many 
other structures. He is a member of the 
Board of Trade, and otherwise interested 
in Bridgeport's financial and industrial 
institutions. 

The other officers of this company 
are: Secretary, Peter N. Frederickson; 
Superintendent, Daniel Campbell. The 
former of these gentlemen has been a 
resident of the city for almost a score of 
years. He is a man of wide experience, 
thoroughly versed in the details of his 
business, in which he has been engaged 
from boyhood. Mr. Campbell has great 
ability in the line of work to which he 
devotes so much of his attention. Both 
Mr. Frederickson and Mr. Campbell were 
for years associated with the old firm of 
Longstaff & Hurd. 

The plant of the Longstaff Company 
is situated at No. 269 and 271 Railroad 

atv-iiuv,. Establishment of The George W. Longstaff Company. 




A. WINTTER & COMPANY'S BREWERY was started on the site of the present plant in 1855 by 
Mr. John Benz, being the first lager beer brewery established in this city. Lager beer was not then as 
popular as it is to-day, the general public not being aware of its many wholesome and invigorating 
qualities. The knowledge that malt was considered by all prominent physicians as a stimulating tonic, 
and that one of the principal ingredients in the brewing of lager beer was that commodity, created 
for it a great demand, which, in the line of beverages, is unrivaled. The demand being constantly on the 
increase, made necessary the enlarging of the plant, until it has grown to be the most complete in the 
state of Connecticut. Mr. Benz died in 1871, and the business was carried on under the management 
of Mr. A. Wintter until 1875, '^^hen he became the sole owner. In 1S80 Mr. Wintter associated with 
him Messrs. McMahon & Wren, and, as a result, the Connecticut Brewing Company was established, 
consisting of A. Wintter & Company and the Meriden Brewing Company, with a capital stock of 
§700,000. These breweries are equipped with all modern improvements, and their products are widely 
known and appreciated by the people. 



196 



THE '•STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



ECKART BROTHERS' BREWERY. 




Eagle Hrewery, Eckiirt Bros., Proprietoi-s. 

Arriving in this country he visited numerous cities, ever.ir.ally 
considered one of Bridgeport's oldest residents. 
Twenty years later the brewery of Eckart Brothers 
was founded, and from a small beginning, has grown 
into one of the most complete in the country. 
Socially, Mr. Ehrsani is very popular, and the Turn 
Verein Society has in him one of the most pro- 
gressive members. He is a communicant of the 
Church of the Nativity, North Bridgeport, and in 
politics always was independent. 

THE FRANKLIN TYPEWRITER EX- 
CHANGE began business January i, 1896, with ;\Ir. 
Frank Marshall, who for a year previous to that time 
had been engaged as a salesman for Miller & 
Martin of this city, who were then the general 
selling agents of the United States for the Franklin 
Typewriter, he having resigned his position as 
foreman of the assembling department of the Yost 
Writing Machine Co., of this city, which position 
he held for several years. The office of the Exchange 
was located in the Sanford Building on the third 
floor, at first, but owing to the increase in business, 
larger quarters were necessary, and on November 
I, 1896, the business was removed to the ground 
floor of 45 Cannon street, where they are now located. 
The house carries in stock all makes of type- 
writers, both new and second-hand, which thev 
rent, sell or exchange, typewriter cabinets and all 
kinds of office supplies. The repair department is 
under the personal supervision of Mr. Marshall, 
where all typewriters entrusted to their care receive 



In the industrial development of Bridgeport during the 
last twenty years, we find that the 
brewery founded by the Eckart 
Brothers (of which Mr, Frederick 
F, Ehrsam is now the head), has 
taken a prominent part. It is only 
in latter years that the beverage 
of lager beer has become so popular, 
and to-day it is the favorite with all 
ages and in all climes. The cut 
annexed is an exact reproduction of 
the plant of Eckart Brothers, which 
contains all the modern machinery 
necessary to a perfect brew of lager 
beer, etc., and employs a large num- 
i ler of skilled employes, who, in 
making their homes here, add to the 
-reatness of the Park City. 

Frederick F. Ehrsani was born 
in Sa.\e ^leiningen, Germany, April 
20. 1844, and received a liberal edu- 
cation in the home of his nativity. 
^cti' n^ in Bridgeport in 1854, and is 




THE CONNICCTICUT BREWERIES' CO., A. WINTTER & CO., BRIDGEl'ORT. 
Controlling the Meriden Brewing Co. Meriden 
P. W. Wren, Prest. J. H. McMahon, Gen'l Mgr. A. Wintter, Secv. and Tr 

Capital Stock, $700,000. 




for '^'"PiF 







THE MERIDEN BREWINO CO., 

Jno. A. Hurley, JIgr. 




A. WINTTER & CO. BREWERV, 

A. Wintter, Mgr. 




INTERIOR VIEW OF THE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, BRIDGEPORT. 




INTERIOR VIEW OF JOHN CULLINAN'S UNDERTAKING Eb lAHLlSHMEN I . 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



197 



prompt attention. They have lately opened a copying office in connection with their typewriting- 
business, and have secured the services of several competent stenographers. 

JOHN CULLIXAX, a prominent, successful business man of Bridgeport, was born in Ireland, 
February 10, 1S40. Forty-seven years ago he left his native country and emigrated to America, 
settling in Springfield, Mass., June 30; came to Bridgeport thirty-three years ago, where, for the past 
twenty-eight years he has successfully conducted the leading business in the undertaking line. Mr. 
Cullinan is a self-educated as well as a self-made man, and his success in business has been due entirely 
to his own efforts. His great business capacity demonstrates him to be a man of more than ordinary 
executive ability. In 1863 ]\Ir. Cullinan married Miss Kathrine Keating, of Bridgeport, to whom five 
children have been born. Two of their sons, John and Thomas are prominent members of the local 
bar. Mr. Cullinan is a member of the Emmet Club, the A. O. H., the Knights of Cohmibus, Knights 
of Honor and the American Legion of Honor. With all his associates, he is highly esteemed and 
honored, both as a citizen and a man. 

TORREY & HUBERT'S Art Store, (formerly Brewster's). — In purchasing art, pictures, bric- 




Interic.r View of Torrey & Hubert's .\rt Store. 

a-brac, etc., to beautify the many delightful homes in this city, some intending bu}^ers wend their 
weary way to the larger cities, regardless of the fact that in their own town they can secure the same 
articles at a much less price. 

Intelligent art connoiseurs will not question why that should be the case; because, by that very 
intelligence they will clearly understand that the cases are not parallel. 

In New York, for instance, although the quantity of sales are no larger (owing to the great com- 
petition) in point of numbers than in many smaller cities, the immense rent and other outlays they 
have to meet, must come from as small a number of people as the art store in smaller places; where 
their running expenses are much less. 

The question then arises and must be met; is it sensible to pay the cost incident to a railroad 
journey and a larger price for such articles ? 

The excellent cut here published, is an exact reproduction of the interior of Torrey & Hubert's 
art store, in the P. (). Arcade, which was founded by Swan Brewster in 1884. 



19S THE '' STAXDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 

The show windows are like the chameleon, constantly changing color; each succeeding one show- 
ing some new beauty, and are becoming the talk of the town. The kaleidoscope windows, the bright 
handsome store, the pretty gallery, the quiet refinement and the artistic display, are very potent 
charms to attract all lovers of the beautiful. It is conceded to be one of the handsomest stores in the 
state, and should be visited by everyone. 

The business, annually, of this firm is very large, and their stock contains the finest examples of 
the painter, sculptor, photographer and kindred arts. 

In looking around the store, one is impressed with the immensity and variet}' of the articles dis- 
played; oil paintings and water color selections, statuettes and bric-a-brac; examples of a master 
hand and the enterprise of this most popular firm. 

The generous support accorded this art store by the inhabitants of Bridgeport speaks well for their 
discernment, and the knowledge of this, encourages Messrs. Torrey & Hubert to scour the artistic 
world for their best examples. 

THE WILMOT & HOBBS MANUFACTURING COMPANY.— Bridgeport may well take 
pride in this enormous manufacturing concern. Controlled by gentlemen who represent a superior 
type of financial and industrial life, giving employment to hundreds of mechanics, and conducting a 
trade of far reaching importance, it stands as one of the bulwarks of the Park City's many and varied 
industries. To give an adequate idea of its extent, or of the diversity of its manufactured products is 
not easy in the limits of this article. To make steel of the finest quality, and then, by submitting it to 
their mastering processes, make this stubborn product pliable and obedient to their will, is the difficult 
task which the Wilmot & Hobbs Manufacturing Company has marked out for itself. As if to symbolize 
the indomitable energy which has brought this vast concern to its present state of industrial complete- 
ness, after the destructive fire of 1S95, which laid a large portion of these works in ruins, new structures 
rose phoenix-like from the ashes before they were hardly cold; and now absolutely fire-proof buildings 
greet the eye of the interested observer. 

The year 1877 saw the establishment of this great business by the late Mr. S. R. Wilmot. Some 
years later this gentleman gave an interest in the production of steel to his son-in-law, Mr. Hobbs, 
when the firm became Wilmot, Hobbs & Co. In 18S4 the business was incorporated under its present 
name, and in 1894 Mr. Hobbs sold out his entire interest. The list of this firm's entire products is a 
long one. Bessamer, open hearth, and the celebrated " Swedoh " steel, billets, bands, sheets and strips 
for pressed, stamioed and drawn work, anti-rust, copperized, and nickel-plated oilers, lamps, engineers' 
and steamboat sets, bicycle tubing and nickel-plated stove edge and ring trimmings, may be mentioned 
among them. For a number of years these works have been conducted on the departmental plan, and 
the hot rolling department is deserving of special mention. This is advantageously located on a 
branch track of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Here, each year, the company 
receives its raw materials — thousands of tons of domestic and foreign billets — these to be cut by 
enormous shears to the desired size and weight, heated in large gas furnaces capable of turning out 
100 tons per day, passed to and fro through the hot rolling mill train, operated by engines of some 1,500 
horse-power, and thus turned into bands and plates. 

A portion of the annealing and pickling of hot rolled steel is conducted at the hot rolling depart- 
ment, or lower mill, situated at the corner of Howard and Wordin avenues, and a portion at the main 
works at Railroad and Hancock auenues. Between these two many teams are kept constantly 
employed in transportation of the product. But in addition to the hot rolled, annealed and pickled 
and bright cold rolled sheet and strip steel, used for sewing machines, bicycles, typewriters, bells, 
parts of guns and a hundred and one other branches of business, many patented specialties are also 
manufactured in the sheet steel line, controlled on various royalty and contract arrangements. Many 
of these are sold to other manufacturers for their raw material, while a large line of goods are sold 
through dealers and jobbers in hardware and other branches of business. One of the very interesting 
products of the concern is sheet steel rolled to proper thinness for the manufacture of spoons. The 
importance of this branch of the business is suggested when it is known that the company has con- 
tracted for the delivery before the close of the present year (1897) of two thousand tons of this steel 
to be furnished to the various manufacturers of spoons. This portion of the company's business was 
secured against a score of competitors, and the uniformity in size and quality of the product, causes its 



' *%a*' 




MAIN OFFICE COLD ROLLING MILLS.&c. 




Samuel R. Wilnu.t. F. A. Wilmot. 

PLANTS OF THE WTLMOT ,■(; HOBKS MANLFACTURING CO. 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 



199 



use by the trade of the entire country. Patented steel flooring is another specialty. Steel tape is 
furnished as raw material in quantities as great as 500 tons to the order, which later appears as 
millions of shoe nails. Obviously the conduct of this vast concern requires a constant study of ways 
and means to reduce cost of production by various improvements in manufacture, and an unflagging 
business zeal. Observation of this enormous plant reveals machinery filling thousands of feet of floor 
space, twelve engines and boilers furnishing power for its operation; an electric plant supplying the 
hundreds of lights used in the great buildings, and a thoroughly fitted machine shop where the tools 
needed in the business are made and repaired. Ten to twenty thousand tons of steel are annually 
turned out of the hot rolling mills, and 10,000 tons of coal are each year consumed as fuel. In the 
handling of these immense quantities of raw material, the unequalled railroad switch yard and dock 
facilities which they possess are of inestimable value. There is no need to add that the.se plants and 
the operation of the business represents an enormous outlay of capital. The officers of the company 
are: President and Treasurer, F. A. Wilmot; Second Vice-President and Superintendent of Mills, 
A. N. Stanton; Secretary, P. L. Bryning; Assistant Treasurer, Calhoun Lathham ; Superintendent of 
Manufacturing Department, C. D. S. Miller. 

THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS COMPANY, located on Crescent avenue and East Main street, is 
one of the largest manufacturing concerns of our city. In 1865 Daniel W. Kissam, Samuel R. Wilmot 
and John Davol, owners of the Wilmot & Kissam Manufacturing Company, a corporation doing business 
in Brooklyn, N. Y., recognizing the advantages of Bridgeport as a manufacturing city, removed their 
business to this place, forming The Bridgeport Brass Company, with a capital stock of $150,000, of which 
corporation John Davol was President; S. R. Wilmot, Treasurer, and W. D. Kissam, Secretary. 
The company engaged in the general manufacture of brass and copper wire, tubing and sheets, and 
many other articles of which brass and copper are component parts, especially kerosene oil burners 
and lamps, in the manufacture of which a larger amount of brass is consumed than any one article for 
which brass is used, and they are still largely engaged in this branch of the business. Many 
branches have been added, such as the manufacture of seamless brass and copper tubes, clock move- 
ments, bicycle lanterns, insulated copper wire for electrical purposes. This company was the first to 
introduce and manufacture what is known as " Hard Drawn " copper wire, of which thousands of miles 
are now used for telegraphic, telephonic and railway purposes. 

The company's business and manufacturing facilities have largely increased, until they now 
occupy about five acres and employ nearly a thousand employes, with a pay roll amounting to half a 
million dollars annually. The officers of the company are: Chas. M. Mitchell, of Waterbury, Presi- 
dent; Geo. E. Somers, of Bridgeport, Vice-President; Nelson M. Beach, of Bridgeport, Treasurer; 
Frederick J. Kingsbury, Jr., of Fairfield, Secretary. 

THE A^iIERICAN GRAPHOPHONE COMPANY.— When the talking machine was perfected 
by the inventions of Professor Alexander Graham Bell, Professor Chichester Bell and Mr. Charles 
Sumner Tainter, a new and curious industry was brought into the world. This is the manufacture of 
Graphophones. Not many people know that a large factory building in Bridgeport is devoted to the 
manufacture of talking machines. It might be said to be devoted to the making of talk. 

The factory of the American Graphophone company is for many reasons one of the most notable 
in the group of extensive manufacturing concerns that have been attracted to the Park City. The 
persons employed in making the various parts of the talking machine, the general character of the 
output and its wide distribution throughout the world, are all elements that make the concern 
interesting. Its growth has been rapid, but the officers of the company consider that they are yet 
only on the threshold, and that the industry will in a few years require a plant many times the size of 
the present large factory. 

The factory of the American Graphophone Company on Railroad avenue, at the foot of Howard 
avenue, is 400 feet long by 60 feet wide. It has two floors, which provide about 48,000 square feet. 
There is a wing, 100x30 feet, with three floors. A proposed new wing will be 100x50 feet, and contain 
three floors, which will provide 46,000 square feet of floor space. 

To follow the construction of a Graphophone from the design until it is finally assembled, is 
interesting and instructive. 



THE "STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 




The Graphophone consists of several parts: 

I, The framework which supports the mechanism; 2, The shaft or mandrel on which the 
cylinder revolves; 3, The rod on which the carriage supporting the recorder or reproducer moves; 4, 

The recorder or reproducer; 5, The motor either electric or clock- 
work; 6, The cylinder on which the record is engraved. 

The making of the carriage, of course, is metal work, such as 
may be seen in any factory where fine machinery is manufactured. 
vSeveral years of experience has resulted in reducing the frame- 
work to the simplest form consistent with efficiency. The factory 
is provided with many fine lathes and tools designed especially 
for the purpose of quickly making and finishing the framework. 
Every part is milled and lathed and turned with the greatest 
accuracy. The finest steel tools that can be made or obtained 
are employed. It is essential that every adjustment should be of 
the most accurate character. As an instance of the delicacy of 
the work required, it may be mentioned that the artisans employed are provided with callipers that 
measure their work to the point of one-quarter of a thousandth part of an inch. When the work is 
inspected it has to undergo the tests of the finest measurements, or be rejected. 

A part of the factory force is engaged in making the clock- 
work or electric motors that drive the Graphophones. 

The work that is of peculiar interest, however, is the making 
of the recorders and reproducers, and the cylinders on which 
sound is recorded. These, of course, are the distinctive features 
of the Graphophone, the other parts of the machine being only 
the fine mechanism necessary to keep the cylinder, and the 
recorder or reproducer, in proper and regular motion. 

To the eye of the hasty observer the recorder and the repro- 
ducer of a Graphophone seem very much the same. They appear 
to be discs of hard rubber or aluminum about an inch and a half in 
diameter. The under side is hollowed and made to hold a glass 
diaphragm, to which is attached" a little metal arm holding a 
small point of sapphire at the end. To the upper side is secured 
flat on the disc a short, thick tube of the same material as the 
disc, which tube extends about an inch beyond the edge of the 
disc, and ends in a metal ring or collar, by means of which the ju.uiding cylinders. 

recorder or reproducer is attached to the trunnion. The difference 

between the recorder and the reproducer is in the bit of sapphire referred to, and the manner of its 
attachment to the glass diaphragm. In the case of the recorder the sapphire is made in the form of a 
little chisel with a cutting edge, and it is secured in a piece of metal that is attached rigidly to the 

glass. In the reproducer the sapphire is in the form of a little 
ball, which is attached to the imder side of a lever, one arm 
of which is secured in the center of the diaphragm glass, the 
other moving freely on a pivot that is attached to the casing of 
the diaphragm. This facilitates the free play or vibration of the 
diaphragm. 

The difference of these sapphire points suggests their 

different uses. The chisel of the recorder cuts into the wax 

cylinder, and as the diaphragm vibrates in response to the sound 

waves beating against it, makes a deeper or shallower impression 

according to the pitch and volume of the sound. On the other 

hand the ball of the reproducer does not cut, but merely "tracks " 

in the furrows made in the cylinder by the recording chisel or stylus, and moving up and down the 

undulations, reproduces in the diaphragm the same movements or vibrations that originally caused the 

chisel to cut the furrow. The sound is thus reproduced. 





Testing Musical Records 




Edward D. Easton, 
Pres. and Gen. Mgr. American Graphophone Co 



THE ''STANDARD'S- HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 




While iiiucli of the work about the Graphoplione Factory is such as may be seen in any factory 
where fine metal work is done, there are several departments where the processes are unique. One of 
these is the department where the wax cylinders used in making records are moulded and polished 
for use. The rough wax is melted in great steam-jacketted kettles in a room on an upper floor. It is 
drawn oflf in a pipe to another big kettle or vat, on the floor below where it is kept in a melted state, 
filtered and cleaned. Thence it passes to the floor below, where it is mixed with chemicals necessary 
to give it the proper consistency. Then it is ready for the mould. The moulds are arranged in rows 
around a great flat wheel, about six feet in diameter. As the wheel revolves, a man ladles the melted 
wax into the moulds. By the time the filled mould reaches a man on the other side of the wheel, the 
wax has hardened and the rough cylinder can be taken out. The moulders have to work rapidly, as 
the wheel keeps moving around, taking in loads of melted wax at 
one point and discharging rough moulded cylinders at the other 
side. These rough cylinders are then taken to a department, 
where the}' are reamed and then shaved or poli.shed. Much of 
this work is done with great rapidity on shaving machines or 
lathes especially designed for the purpose by Mr. T. H. Mac- 
Donald, the manager of the factory. The tools used against the 
wax are edged with sapphire. 

Another interesting department is the music record depart- 
ment where the musical records used on the talking machines are 
made. Here a score or more of men are employed testing the 
records, putting them up in neat boxes, labelling them and 
storing them away in proper order. Thousands of these records 
are made in a day. This department is a sort of musical Babel. A visitor will hear a dozen or more 
tunes at once issuing from the horns of as many Graphophones. Each tester, however, is interested 
in the particular musical record he is trying, and such is the force of training he hears nothing else. 

In one cozy corner of the factory building is the lapidary's room, the department where men are 
engaged in fashioning the minute cutting points and balls of sapphire used on the recorders and 
reproducers. Sapphire is used for this purpose because no metal is durable enough. The wax 
cylinders seem soft enough, but the constant attrition soon wears a steel point out of shape. Next to 
the diamond the sapphire is the hardest of the precious stones. The sapphire arrives at the 

Graphophone factory in rough lumps. With fine saws the lumps 
are divided into thin slabs. Again the slabs are sawed up into 
little four-sided sticks, and the sticks are cut up into tiny blocks 
or cubes. Each cube is then fashioned either into a cutting 
]ioint or a ball for a reproducer. 

Another part of the factory where one can see work that is 
(jut of the ordinary is a section of one of the long rooms where 
men are engaged in completing the recorders and reproducers. 
In the rubber or aluminum case is inserted a glass diaphragm 
about an inch in diameter. This is placed between two small 
gaskets or rings of rubber, which allows the diaphragm to play 
or vibrate when a sound wave strikes it. The sapphire point is 
attached to the outside of the diaphragm. These glass diaphragms 
are made in France of the finest rolled plate glass. They are 7-1000 of an inch in thickness, or 
much thinner than a sheet of writing paper. 

The making of Graphophones is not the only industry pursued in the factory of the American 
Graphophone Company, though it is the principal one. The Company has patent rights in photograph 
projecting machines, and manufactures the Graphoscope, a projecting machine devised by Mr. 
MacDonald, the manager of the factory. Connected with this part of the factory is a film making 
establishment. 

When one remembers that the photographic negative from which films are made is from 50 to 
150 feet in length, he can understand that the process of developing and printing from it is very 
interesting. The dark room is an apartment as large as an ordinary parlor. Here the photographer 




Sapphire Cutting Room. 



THE '■ STANDARD'S-' HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 




Slaking Graphoscope Filn 



and his assistants work, not in the dark, but with the aid of electric lights enclosed in rose-colored 
bnlbs. The negatives are in long bands or strips jtist as they are run through the camera. The 
photographer winds them on a big roller or barrel, which revolves in a trough filled with the 
developing solution. Two or three turns of the crank bring the pictures out. The work of getting 
views or subjects for these films is directed from the factory, and cameras for the purpose have been 
made and perfected there. 

The Manager and Superintendent of the factory is Mr. T. H. MacDonald, a well-known resident 
of Bridgeport. To his inventive genius is due much of the improvement in talking machines, and in 
the processes of manufacture. 

The Assistant Manager is Mr. Clement March, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology, and the Assistant vSuperintendent is Mr. E. E. 
Norton, who has charge of the mechanical work. 

The American Graphophone Company was organized shortly 
after patents for the Graphophone were issued in 1887. Its pro- 
moters were mainly professional men in Washington who 
believed they saw in the invention a very desirable substitute for 
shorthand amanuenses. It is an interesting fact in the history of 
the enterprise that the earlier efforts of these whose capital was 
invested in it were directed almost wholly to introducing the 
Graphophone for business uses. Experience soon proved, how- 
ever, that the use of the machine for entertainment purposes 
afforded a field almost tmlimited, and the demand for machines 
for such purposes steadily grows from year to year. From the 
factory point of view, by far the most important aspect of the Graphophone is that of the pleasure 
maker. There is practically no limit to the number that may be irsed for this purpose. Early in its 
history the Graphophone Company leased its rights to the North American Phonograph Company, but 
when that concern went out of existence it entered into the field as a manufacturer. It, however, 
made no marked headway until a succession of changes brought the present management in control. 
Then the concern was reorganized, the company rehabilitated and refinanced, the factory methods 
revised, and the whole establishment put on a strictly business basis. The result has been a rapid and 
steady growth. The Columbia Phonograph Company had secured through its capable management 
the position of the principal dealer in the world in talking 
machines and talking machine supplies, and upon the reorganiza- 
tion of the American Graphophone Company the Columbia 
Phonograph Company became its sole sales agent. Now, 
through the Columbia Phonograph Company, the American 
Graphophone Company is represented in attractive buildings 
in New York, Paris, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Balti- 
more and Washington, besides having agencies in other 
cities. 

The officers of the American Graphophone Company are: 
Edward D. Easton, President and General Manager; Wm. E. 
Bond, Vice-President; Wm. Herbert Smith, Treasurer; Paul H. 
Cromelin, Secretary. Directors: M. E. Lyle, Andrew Devinc, 
Chas. S. Tainter, Edward D. Easton, Wm. E. Bond, R. O. Holtzman, Wm. Herbert Smith, John J. 
Phelps and R. F. Cromelin. 

Of all the men who have been connected with the talking machine as a business enterprise, Mr. 
Edward D. Easton, the Pre.sident of the American Graphophone Company, is by far the best known. 
He began his bu-siness relations with the Graphophone when the Graphophone was invented, and has 
devoted himself to it ever since. He is a native of Massachusetts, and possesses the best of New 
England traits. His boyhood was spent in the vicinity of Hackensack, New Jersey, where he entered 
newspaper work as an assistant editor when about fifteen years old. He became an expert 
stenographer early, and after doing considerable shorthand work for various newspapers, went to 
Washington to take a position as a stenographic clerk in the Light House Board. He maintained 




eloping a 150-Foot Negati' 



THE '-STANDARD'S" HISTORY OF BRIDGEPORT. 203 

his connection with the Government for seven or eight years, when he resigned to enter a more 
lucrative field that opened before him in general reporting. Mr. Easton reported the Guiteau trial, 
the long, drawn-out Star Route trials, and many other famous cases. His reputation as a 
stenographer was of the highest character, and he was constantly employed in various parts of the 
country, but chiefly in Washington, in the most lucrative work. After making, before he was thirty 
years old, a record in the shorthand profession, which can be equaled by few of those who have 
given a lifetime to the calling, he stepped out of it to devote his energies and talents to the talking 
machine. He was one of the first to appreciate the practical uses of the invention, and to put it into 
service in his own business. The great future he saw for it induced him to invest his capital in it, 
and to devote his life to it. He organized first the Columbia Phonograph Company, which originally 
was a local concern operating in Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia. Of the several local 
companies organized about the same time, the Columbia Phonograph Company was the only one that 
achieved marked success. This was due to the fact that its energetic President both understood the 
machine he was handling, and had as well a wonderful aptitude for business and organizing ability. 
These qualities became more and more evident as years passed on, and the Columbia Phonograph 
Company grew from a local concern into an establishment whose operations are world-wide. This 
success naturally brought him to the Presidency of the American Graphophone Company, and placed 
him at the head of the talking machine btisiness of the world. The skill with which he, in an 
incredibly short time, brought the American Graphophone Company up from a state of despair to an 
enviable degree of prosperity, has been remarked with wonder by many financiers familiar with the 
difficulties in the way. United with a thorough knowledge of the talking machine, he possesses rare 
financial skill, and enjoys the thorough confidence of all whose capital has been invested in the 
enterprise. Under his direction the factory in Bridgeport has steadily grown in size, processes have 
been perfected, and the talking machine itself greatly improved. 

THE BULLARD MACHINE TOOL COMPANY.— When the visitor to Bridgeport's mechanical 
establishments notes that eighty-one factories in this city alone use machine tools in the production of 
their special lines of work, the position of this concern in the industrial world becomes more strikingly 
evident. When further a plant covering a space, 400 by 160 feet, and occupying a number of 
connecting buildings is observed, and when it is known that a force numbering between 150 and 200 
is employed upon labor demanding more than common intelligence and skill, the importance of the 
Bullard iMachine Tool Company begins to be in a measure realized. It was in the year 1880 that Mr. E. P. 
Bullard brought the Bridgeport Machine Tool Works into being. Fourteen years later that company 
was incorporated under the present name, and with Mr. Bullard as its President, H. A. V. Post as 
Treasurer, and A. H. Bullard, Secretary, it began an era of continuous development along original and 
independent lines. This latter fact is one to which the company calls attention. It is not bound 
down to the hard and fast methods of predecessors and contemporaries, but seeks results from its own 
lines of thought and action. 

To-day its special machines are assisting in the manufacture of the appliances of other great 
corporations, helping to realize the claims of railroads, shipbuilding concerns, and the production of 
mechanical devices in this country and abroad. 

The Bullard Machine Tool Company manufactures many machines, boring and turning mills, 
lathes and turret machines, unusually complete in their appointment and high grade, being those to 
which particular attention is given. The most recent structure which the company has erected is 
perhaps an unexcelled workskop, its massive walls and roofs being of the most modern build, and the 
science of the present day architecture providing light and air comfort to scores of workmen. 



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